Movie Review: Final Destination: Bloodlines (2025)
Synopsis: Stefani Reyes is plagued by a recurring nightmare featuring her estranged grandmother, Iris, dying in a horrific restaurant accident in the 1960s. With her lack of sleep landing her on academic probation, Stefani returns home and, despite fierce opposition from her family, locates Iris hidden away in a fortress-like home. Iris reveals Stefani's dream is identical to a vision she had at the restaurant that led to her saving lives. However, Death has been following since, killing both the people who should have died in the accident and the offspring that should never have been born. When Iris is killed soon after, Stefani realizes she, her brother, mom, uncle and cousins are next.
Who's in it? The movie stars Kaitlyn Santa Juana, Teo Briones, Rya Kihlstedt, Richard Harmon, Anna Lore and Tony Todd.
Review: Our daughters are attending a community theater musical this afternoon so my wife and I, after enjoying Chinese for lunch, decided to give Final Destination: Bloodlines a try. While I am a fan of the franchise, I did have some doubts about yet another sequel. However, it turned out to be a great addition to the series.
I loved the early mystery surrounding Stefani's (Santa Juana) recurring dream. It was a strange but intriguing way to open the movie, creating so many questions, including why she was dreaming of a grandmother (Gabrielle Rose) she never met and how the grandmother survived what looked like an impossible-to-escape situation. At the same time, as someone who already doesn't like heights, the lead-in involving the tower-like restaurant with glass floors set a great tone by triggering my anxiety a bit.
Once the movie got going and started explaining all of it, it only became more entertaining. At first, there seemed to be a very clear plan as far as Death was concerned, with the various members of Iris' bloodline dying in a set order. However, the film managed to throw in a few twists to keep it from being completely predictable, including adding a death or two that seemed to be more improvisation on Death's part than planned.
The movie does go a bit heavy on the gruesome side, both with some of the bloody deaths and some of the cringe-worthy non-fatalities. I didn't think it was anything that was too over-the-top though and, as was the case with the previous films, they were the result of some orchestrated steps that included a few fake outs that kept it from becoming too predictable, even when the cause of death was telegraphed well in advance.
If I had any complaints about the movie, it would be one similar to other films in this genre, where were the police or even the media? I mean, if a group of people from the same family started dying in horrific ways within days of each other, I would think that would result in some sort of investigation. I know it's just a movie, but that's a big suspension of disbelief.
Final Opinion: It's not a film you're going to want to watch if you're squeamish, but it is a great addition to a now-classic franchise.
My Grade: A
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Here are some reviews of other 2025 horror films:
Movie Review: Until Dawn (2025)
Movie Review: The Monkey (2025)
Movie Review: Heart Eyes (2025)
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