It’s been 14 years since the last Final Destination movie, but horror franchises never quit, and it’s time for the sixth entry to get things going again. According to its first reviews, Final Destination: Bloodlines restarts the series with a bang, a crash, and plenty of other gruesome ways to kill off anyone who managed to escape death temporarily. Those fearing freak accidents are sure to be terrified, while the die-hard fans will have plenty to enjoy in more Rube Goldberg-esque machinations, including some fun callbacks to previous installments.
Here’s what critics are saying about Final Destination: Bloodlines:
How does it compare to the previous installments?
For those feeling a bit trauma-fatigued, I’m happy to say Final Destination is not only back but better than ever.
— Radheyan Simonpillai, The Guardian
Delivering the most visually impressive, emotionally compelling, and quick witted Final Destination to date, co-directors Zach Lipovsky and Adam Stein work wonders with a reboot that shouldn’t land nearly as well as it does.
— Alison Foreman, IndieWire
Nothing in the series so far can quite prepare you for the intricate sadism of these set pieces.
— Tim Robey, Daily Telegraph
It features a superbly choreographed opening sequence that may be the best in the series.
— Frank Scheck, The Hollywood Reporter
Final Destination: Bloodlines isn’t quite a return to form for the long-running franchise – that would imply it has ever been anything less than entertaining. Instead, it’s more of a revitalisation.
— Joel Harley, Starburst
If not entirely flawless or the best sequel of the series (Final Destination 2 will always be my true love), Final Destination: Bloodlines crucially has the spirit of the series and its own dark heart in the right place.
— Ian Sandwell, Digital Spy
Does it align most with any of the other films?
Of the five films that preceded it, Bloodlines shares most of its DNA with series high Final Destination 2, which it continually references with a series of knowing nods and winks.
— Joel Harley, Starburst
They pay proper homage to previous installments, especially to Final Destination 2 in many ways other than solely the logging truck.
— Courtney Howard, Fresh Fiction
Is this one more elevated horror?
Directors Zach Lipovsky and Adam B Stein, who broke on to the scene with the inventive low-budget sci-fi spectacle Freaks, class the joint up while refusing to let their movie take itself too seriously.
— Radheyan Simonpillai, The Guardian
If you can see it in IMAX, it elevates the death sequences, leaving you on edge the moment you spot the shift.
— Ian Sandwell, Digital Spy
Does it help to be a longtime Final Destination Fan?
Winking callbacks prove that the makers of this are interested in nothing but fan service. Staggeringly grisly, Michelin-star-worthy fan service.
— Tim Robey, Daily Telegraph
Sure, [there’s] fan service, the kind so many craven reboots are prone to. But it feels more earned in Bloodlines because they’re often building to something fresh and, in one instance, even moving.
— Radheyan Simonpillai, The Guardian
Die-hard Final Destination obsessives will find plenty to pick apart when it comes to Iris’ dubious survival strategy in Bloodlines.
— Alison Foreman, IndieWire
Bloodlines feels like the first Final Destination film that’s seen a Final Destination film, and spends the bulk of its time playing various games of bait-and-switch with an audience who’ve seen all the logging truck memes already.
— Joel Harley, Starburst
Will newbies enjoy it too?
Bloodlines operates as an accessible entry point into the Final Destination films.
— Meagan Navarro, Bloody Disgusting
The Grim Reaper should garner a new generation of fans with the sixth entry.
— Frank Scheck, The Hollywood Reporter
[It sets] itself up as its own entity for the uninitiated to enjoy the gory goodness these films have made as their personalities.
— Peter Gray, The AU Review
The film serves as an entry point for new fans while holding some winks and nods for those who have been watching since 2000.
— Murjani Rawls, Substream Magazine
How are the Kills?
Bloodlines includes some of the franchise’s best and nastiest kills.
— Gregory Nussen, Deadline Hollywood Daily
So cleverly orchestrated that the audience at the preview screening applauded each one as if they were song-and-dance numbers.
— Frank Scheck, The Hollywood Reporter
The most entertaining kills, which this time around involve everything from lawn tools to an MRI, have a Buster Keaton-esque flair for physical comedy.
— Radheyan Simonpillai, The Guardian
There’s an edge to the death sequences that the franchise hasn’t seen since 2006.
— Joel Harley, Starburst
The sharp Rube Goldberg death traps perfectly finesse tension, dark comedy and blood-drenched carnage, easily making this a franchise favorite.
— Courtney Howard, Fresh Fiction
In their macabre manner, the kill sequences highlight the miracle of life by revealing the vast web of tiny coincidences propping up humanity’s fragile existence.
— Marshall Shaffer, Slant Magazine
Kill scenes are moderately less involved than some of the franchise’s best chain reactions, but no less cruel or detailed.
— Matt Donato, Daily Dead
Is It Gory?
It is carnage for connoisseurs… Not for the squeamish.
— Tim Robey, Daily Telegraph
Final Destination: Bloodlines is a gory dream come true for fans.
— Ian Sandwell, Digital Spy
It has a firm grasp on exuberant violence that will captivate a cheering audience that revels in a character being squashed under a falling piano. If you’re that type of sicko, then this one will be one of the better rides this series has to offer.
— Josh Parham, Next Best Picture
It’s a fun, frightening nightmare factory of gleeful gore.
— Courtney Howard, Fresh Fiction
The deaths are somehow more extravagant and gorier.
— Murjani Rawls, Substream Magazine
Should you avoid this if you suffer from high anxiety?
Anyone with a summer barbecue planned, a tattoo appointment, or (be afraid) an MRI scan, could miss this imminent trash classic and remain blissfully ignorant of the mortal dangers they are dicing with.
— Tim Robey, Daily Telegraph
It’s all too easy to imagine slipping in the shower or getting hit by a bus. The Final Destination movies merely magnify these commonplace anxieties and ramp them up to the nth degree, leaving you a nervous wreck in the process.
— Frank Scheck, The Hollywood Reporter
One might appreciate how the film moves from literal premonitions to a more blatant exploration of anxiety and agoraphobia, but it seems to be a more on-the-nose attempt at exploring nervousness instead of the supernatural slasher we’d want from one of these movies.
— Lindsay Traves, Pajiba
Is it funny?
It veers further into black comedy than previous films, making it less effective as a horror film and undermining some of the tension.
— Joel Harley, Starburst
There could be resistance to some of the attempts at humor that are inconsistently executed.
— Josh Parham, Next Best Picture
Yes, there are some solid comedic elements to all of it, but this is not a horror comedy, and the silly cartoony-looking deaths do not fit.
— Lindsay Traves, Pajiba
Are there any Standouts in the cast?
The acting highlight comes from the late Tony Todd, a series mainstay who makes his final screen appearance in his signature role as the mysterious William Bludworth.
— Frank Scheck, The Hollywood Reporter
It’s Tony Todd himself who brings affecting poignancy to his brief appearance. Todd’s monologue, mostly improvised and from the heart, serves as a heartfelt goodbye, the first genuine tearjerker moment of the entire film series.
— Meagan Navarro, Bloody Disgusting
Richard Harmon steals every scene (including a kinetically staged piercing parlor sequence) as a punk softie, and he bounces well off of Owen Patrick Joyner, playing his doofy himbo brother.
— Jacob Oller, AV Club
The show is stolen by Richard Harmon (The 100) as emo cousin Erik, who scores the film three of its best sequences, and all the most piercing lines, too.
— Joel Harley, Starburst
A real stand-out amongst the cast is Richard Harmon as Erik… When he finally buys it, it might be one of the most disturbing and uncomfortable kills in the entire franchise.
— Edward Douglas, Weekend Warrior
How are the Special Effects?
Special mention has to go to the effects here, which blend practical and VFX elements extremely well as bodies are slashed, smashed, smushed, and stuffed.
— Tom Jorgensen, IGN Movies
The combination of CGI and practical effects works seamlessly.
— Frank Scheck, The Hollywood Reporter
As entertaining as the mayhem can be, the practical effects are frequently overshadowed by more noticeable CGI.
— Meagan Navarro, Bloody Disgusting
Purists might long for the more practical days of the earlier Final Destination movies as there’s noticeable CGI in not just the deaths, but digital elements in other sequences.
— Ian Sandwell, Digital Spy
Are there any problems?
The narrative eventually finds a more traditional structure that isn’t as innovative by the end.
— Josh Parham, Next Best Picture
It does get bogged down in a tedious plotline revolving around dysfunctional family dynamics that makes you impatient for the deaths to start coming. But once they do, the grisly fun resumes.
— Frank Scheck, The Hollywood Reporter
Clever enough to riff on the earlier films’ spotty track record with digital effects, the newest Final Destination stays a smidge too true to its era by including at least one slow-mo explosion à la Michael Bay. It’s a fiery splash of nonsense that’s as boring to look at now as it was back then, but the underwhelming beat feels even more maddening and cliched in the middle of a near-miss climax that needs all the help it can get.
— Alison Foreman, IndieWire
Final Destination: Bloodlines opens in theaters on May 16, 2025.
Thumbnail image by ©Warner Bros.
