Starting May 15, Ukrainian cinemas will see the new battle for survival with Death itself in the sixth installment of the cult horror series «Final Destination» with the subtitle «Bloodlines». You can refresh your memory about the previous films in the franchise in our large material timed to coincide with the film’s release, and in this review we will analyze whether the novelty is justified against the background of a well-worn concept that has been mercilessly exploited by its predecessors as many as five times.
Genre a horror movie about the supernatural
Directors Adam Stein, Zach Lipovsky
Starring Caitlin Santa Juana, Theo Briones, Richard Harmon, Aries Patrick Joyner, Rya Kihlstedt, Anna Lore, Breck Bessinger, Gabrielle Rose, Tony Todd
Premiere movie theaters
Year of release 2025
Website IMDb, official website
College student Stephanie Reyes has unwittingly become the visual embodiment of the legendary lines «this dream, this dream I have every night» because every time she sees the same scene from the 60s. Namely — the grand opening of a luxurious restaurant located in a tall tower, when a terrible disaster occurs and all the guests of the establishment die. Among them is Stephanie’s grandmother Iris, who has long led a reclusive life.
To find out the reasons for the strange vision, the girl goes to see the «crazy» pensioner. She does not yet suspect that Death has already sharpened its blades, started lawn mowers and medical equipment, started cars and stacked logs where necessary to use them to end all the impudent people. They should not have been born at all.
Without exception, all the creators of «Final Destination», no matter what part of it appears before the viewer, are clearly the kind of people who believe in the postulate «if you die, then with music». And the newcomers to the franchise, Adam Stein and Zach Lipovsky, are no exception: it’s no wonder that Johnny Cash’s symbolic Ring of Fire sounds so prescient right before the fire burns the carefree restaurant patrons to ashes.
It has to be said that, both in this particular episode and in general, Stein and Lipovsky don’t bring anything new to the established concept, but rather resemble enthusiastic children who have finally been allowed on an adult ride.
They decided not to reinvent the roller coaster, but simply generously sprayed the trolleys with red and carefully checked all the gears to reach the required height without any problems and ride the set path with a breeze. The duo’s creative fervor is enough to make the spectacular deaths of the next idols look like a frivolous horror attraction, not a deadly boring torture porn for the viewer with senseless violence.
Yes, we’ve seen it all before, but the authors of «Bloodlines» back up the frankly bland narrative with saving (self-)irony and pleasant winks to their predecessors, which will be appreciated by longtime fans of the franchise.
If the people responsible for the 2003 sequel were afraid to kill off the originally planned very young character in the film, they were forced to add a few years to the boy’s age. To eventually kill him with a glass window. The current filmmakers seem to be challenging them. While the clumsy characters of the previous episodes were not only inattentive but literally put their heads in the noose, the local grandmother has barricaded herself. She has learned to recognize the presence of a bony woman with a scythe and her bad intentions. «Bitch, I see you!» — she confidently exclaims.
Finally, if earlier the fate of almost all the character was decided in advance, in contrast, the local tandem of directors manages to play with the audience’s expectations quite well. That is, if a bus is speeding toward one of the doomed at full speed (and, as a result, there is a hint that we are about to witness a very worn-out reception), this does not mean that something will definitely happen.
At some point, it may seem that a meta-narrative is slipping into the story. «Stop filling our heads with this garbage» — comes from the lips of one of the girls who is fed up with the main character’s conspiracy theories. For the viewer, this may sound like the authors’ absolute understanding that using the hackneyed concept for the sixth time — is probably a bit much. But by doing so, they seem to be calling for the audience to take the movie as lightly as possible, saying, «Guys, let’s just indulge in escapism and have a good time at the movies». By the way, the way the lady quoted above ends up dying is telling.
Old fans will also be pleased with the appearance of Tony Todd, who has lost a lot of weight due to a terrible illness, but who has become one of the symbols of «Final Destination». Moreover, to the credit of the creators, this is not just a meaningless cameo for the sake of a cameo: the plot will open the veil of secrecy from the past of coroner William Bloodworth so that we can understand how he knows so much about Death.
For better or worse, Adam Stein and Zach Lipovsky are following a well-trodden path, but their gait is so light that it’s hard to resist joining in and marching to the beat. Of course, this walk is designed for those who know that there will be some fake (or computer-generated) bloody bits along the way, but it’s not a big deal to get to your destination.
