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Final Destination: Bloodlines got an early screening at my local Cineworld for those who went to watch a double-bill with the original 2000 film, simply titled, Final Destination, approximately a week before the official release.
Before I get to the new film, though, the first one was followed by a 15-minute interval, during which the intermission stuck at 1:10, and as it turned out, the manager paused it to introduce the new film, urging everyone to put their phones away. He didn’t say it, but this is because a cinema can be fined if a rogue clip is traced back to their branch, and it could also stop them getting previews like this in future, as it’s almost a week before the main release.
He also asked everyone to look under their seats, and under one is a white envelope. Not mine, sadly, but while there was nothing IN the winner’s envelope, the person who did find it would win a poster for the film. Which was nice.
After this, he said, “Everybody ready for another half-hour of adverts?”
Thankfully, though, it then went straight into the new film, as expected, and begins in the the 1950s, with young couple Iris (Brec Bassinger) and Paul Campbell (Max Lloyd-Jones – Woman Of The Hour), as he takes her up the Skyview… f’nar, f’nar…
Basically, it’s a fancy restaurant in a Space Needle-type building, very high up – and thus – ripe for lots of death, because what goes up… must come down.
Like all these films, it occasionally throws you some misdirection, but without revealing which ones lead to anything or not, there’s a case of trying to fit too many people in the lift, a woman having her hat blown off whilst on the balcony at the top, and a kid throwing pennies off the top, trying to hit passers by on the ground.
Either way, even if no-one died in the opening scene, it has a see-through dance floor which would scare me to death, anyway!
However, to give a flavour, I’ll just say that an errant popped cork leads to an affected chandelier, a small part of which lands on the glass floor and causes a small crack.
Beyond this, it feels like it all goes a bit ‘Titanic’, as disaster is brilliantly-staged, giving just the right amount of time and camera angles to everyone who’s going to meet their maker.
50 years on, down the family bloodlines, young Stefani Reyes (Kaitlyn Santa Juana) finds herself having endless dreams about it, recalling the events over and over, even though she obviously wasn’t there. But after all this time, does death still have a plan for all of us?
Nah, everyone stays fine and no-one gets even so much as a splinter, and they all sit down for two hours with a nice cup of tea…
Seriously, Death WILL come, but it’s just another question of when, who first and in what order will they follow. Plus, can anyone cheat death, and pass it on to someone else for a time, or perhaps all together?
In the end, it’s safe to say that some, none or everyone will die by the end. Or they won’t. You’ll have to watch and find out.
Of Stefani’s extended family, though, I mostly hoped that Julia (Anna Lore) would survive, because she’s hot. Whether she does, you’ll have to watch and find out.
At this point, a bit of discussion about one particular character, but if you don’t want to know ANYTHING amongst the plot exposition, then DON’T open this spoiler header…
Overall, Final Destination: Bloodlines is hugely entertaining with a lot of gore and accidental laughs, and well worth them having made this sixth outing. The first five ran from 2000 to 2011, and I have to confess that I’ve still to see the last one, which was titled Final Destination 5, even though the fourth was excepted to be the FINAL final one, and was labelled The Final Destination.
There’s also something neat, as there’s also a couple of callbacks; one being Carter’s red car from the first film, which drives past the camera, early on, and when you see the logs from the second film… you’ll know.
My only gripe is that while most of the films hover around the 90-minute mark, this new one stretches for 110 minutes, and it does feel that it could easily lop 10-15 minutes off the running time, tightening up a number of the scenes.
Well, technically, another gripe, since the film also threw in one additional way to cheat death, which I’ll put in a spoiler header below, but ultimately, no-one ever carried it out…
Still, Final Destination: Bloodlines blows Thunderbolts* off the fucking stage!
Despite Final Destination: Bloodlines being Tony Todd‘s last film – as coroner William Bludworth – he clearly wasn’t at all well while filming it, but ensured he’d stay the course so that he could create the perfect send-off for both him and his character. Again, I’ll use a spoiler header, but I wanted to discuss a bit about what he says in the film.
As an aside, David R Ellis directed both the second and fourth films in this series, but passed away in January 2013, in Johannesburg, and at the age of just 60, but the cause of his death remains unknown. Spooky!
Additionally, I saw the film on a regular cinema screen (albeit Cineworld Didsbury’s biggest non-premium auditorium) and it looks superb in 2.39:1. I understand the IMAX version includes some scenes in expanded ratio that open up to 1.90:1, but I don’t know the total length as of yet. That info will become clear once the film is actually released.
There’s also a mid-credits moment, as described in the video below.
Final Destination: Bloodlines is in cinemas from May 14th 2025, but isn’t yet available to pre-order on Blu-ray or DVD. However, once announced, it will appear on the New DVD Blu-ray 3D and 4K releases UK list.
Detailed specs:
Cert: 
Running time: 110 minutes
Release date: May 14th 2025
Studio: Warner Bros
Aspect Ratio: 2.39:1; 1.90:1 (IMAX version: some scenes)
Cinema: Cineworld Didsbury
Rating: 7.5/10
Directors: Zach Lipovsky, Adam B Stein
Producers: Toby Emmerich, Dianne McGunigle, Craig Perry, Sheila Hanahan, Jon Watts
Screenplay: Guy Busick, Lori Evans Taylor
Characters: Jeffrey Reddick
Music: Tim Wynn
Cast:
Stefani Reyes: Kaitlyn Santa Juana
William Bludworth: Tony Todd
Iris Campbell: Brec Bassinger
Erik: Richard Harmon
Darlene Reyes: Rya Kihlstedt
Julia Campbell: Anna Lore
Paul Campbell: Max Lloyd-Jones
Old Iris: Gabrielle Rose
Aunt Brenda: April Telek
Charlie Reyes: Teo Briones
Bobby Campbell: Owen Patrick Joyner
Uncle Howard: Alex Zahara
Val: Brenna Llewellyn
Elevator Op (Chet): Travis Turner
Mr. Fuller: Mark Brandon
Mrs. Fuller: Yvette Ferguson
Penny Kid: Noah Bromley
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.