Final Destination Bloodlines Movie Review: Newer traumas emerge in this worthy addition to the franchise

Directors Zach Lipovsky and Adam Stein craft a series of intricately designed death traps that are indulgent, modish and deliver unabashed horror

Following the screening of Final Destination Bloodlines, I encountered a close call with a lorry on the highway and I told myself, "Phew, that could have become a final destination moment." And that essentially sums up the experience of thousands of millennials and Gen-Z who are still terrified of driving behind vehicles that have objects protruding out. The Grim Reaper has added more pages in the book of mysterious, freaky ways to die in the new sixth instalment of the franchise that serves as both a prequel and a sequel to the original films. Lighting a candle to bring those haunted memories to the surface, directors Zach Lipovsky and Adam Stein craft a series of intricately designed death traps that are indulgent, modish and deliver unabashed horror in all its glory.

Cast: Kaitlyn Santa Juana, Teo Briones, Richard Harmon, Owen Patrick Joyner, Rya Kihlstedt, Anna Lore, Brec Bassinger, and Tony Todd

Directors: Zach Lipovsky and Adam Stein

Taking a page from Final Destination 2, the latest film connects the past and present with Stefani Reyes (Kaitlyn Santa Juana) experiencing nightmares of an accident from 1968 at a high-rise tower that involved her grandmother Iris Campbell (Brec Bassinger). Desperate to seek answers, Stefani visits her (a now-aged Gabrielle Rose in solitary confinement) only to understand that death has been following every member who was supposed to die on the spectacularly glossy glass dance floor on the opening day of the tower. Fans of Ghost Ship (2002) will agree on getting reminded of a similar gory tragedy unfolding in yet another dance floor. From production and art design to the props department, it is evident how the makers had a blast (quite literally) in building a world where death takes the centrestage.

Unlike the previous films where friends and family members who were on death’s hit list remained oblivious to the order of the tragedy unfolding in front of them, Stefani’s kith and kin quickly learn of the same, resulting in a few moments of comic relief that could have extended its stay considering the gruesome deaths that are seen throughout the runtime. True to its legacy, the Final Destination franchise continues to outdo itself, staging elaborate accidents across varied terrains and getting ever more creative with its carnage. Remember the laser eye surgery mishap? Think worse. Did you forget the escalator disaster? Imagine more blood. What about the acupuncture table? Nope, the directors call for extra machines with dangerously escalating magnetic fields. As godawful as it may sound, who knew death cleansing its palate for a cadaver feast could be so eerily satisfying? Who knew an invisible nameless character could command power and dread that no supervillain could ever attain? Even the characters in the film address it as a real person. In the process, death becomes the all-seeing, all-knowing fly on the wall who never sees good or evil, but simply executes the task it’s been assigned.

However, in the mayhem of charring people and amputating their limbs, the film loses its emotional anchor that makes us hope they survive against all odds. Even Tony Todd’s return as William Bludworth, the once-menacing visionary of death and its designs, is now frail and waiting to cross over himself. His reintroduction reiterates the franchise’s infamous rules, but they are also the film’s weakest scenes.

Final Destination hinges on neatly laid large pieces of dominoes that are quietly tipped off by a chain of minuscule reactions that eventually reimagine everyday scenarios into near-death experiences. This chaos theory has traumatised viewers for two decades. For Lipovsky and Stein, it’s like playing horror bingo. Even if you take a shot every time a character in the universe says, “Death is coming for you,” you’d still be rudely awakened from your drunken stupor by the next stomach-churning twist. And that is what gives it the enduring appeal: Death is no saviour or angel. In Bludworth’s words, "In death, there are no accidents, no coincidences, no mishaps, and no escapes.”  

From creating hyper-realistic billboards with dead mannequins to even pasting posters on log trucks on city roads (How diabolical!), the film’s marketing team has been working round the clock over the past few weeks. Did this work in the film’s favour? Pretty much. If there’s one thing that Bloodlines has established is that death never truly flatlined for it to be resuscitated. If it ever did, then unfortunately — till death do us part.