The Franchise’s Familiar Face, Now With New Blood
It’s a rare thing when a horror franchise about death manages to avoid dying itself. And yet, here we are in 2025, with Final Destination: Bloodlines, the seventh entry in a series once thought to have met its end. Directed by Zach Lipovsky and Adam B. Stein, the film doesn’t just retread old territory; it twists it, reshaping the mythology into something darker and—perhaps for the first time in years—emotionally resonant.
At the center of this entry is Kaitlyn Santa Juana as Riley, a young woman who discovers that her “survivor’s curse” isn’t random at all, but part of a generational pattern. Death, it seems, isn’t just clever—it’s inherited. That revelation provides the franchise with fresh legs and a haunting thematic layer. We’ve seen people run from Death. We’ve seen them bargain with it. But never before has the franchise asked: what if the real killer was history itself?
Plot: The Past is Prologue
Like every Final Destination film, it begins with a disaster. This time, it’s not a plane crash or a highway pile-up, but a meticulously staged bridge collapse that feels like a direct callback to Final Destination 5. Riley survives, along with several others, after experiencing a vision of their doom. But unlike the previous leads in the series, she quickly discovers that the deaths stalking her and her friends are connected to an older event—one that claimed lives in her own family decades before.
The screenplay, penned with an almost folkloric logic, threads Riley’s ancestry into the narrative. This isn’t simply a case of “Death’s design” working itself out again; it’s the repetition of trauma through lineage. The bridge disaster doesn’t just trigger a new chain of deaths—it reawakens one.
As Riley races against fate, she’s not just trying to cheat death; she’s trying to sever her bloodline’s contract with it. Along the way, we get the franchise’s trademark set-pieces: deaths that look absurd in isolation, but terrifyingly inevitable in context. A loose screw, a frayed wire, a kitchen appliance left unattended—small details coalesce into elaborate, Rube Goldbergian carnage.
The film’s climax reframes the series’ central conceit: instead of simply waiting for fate to strike, Riley tries to break the cycle by confronting it directly. Whether she succeeds or not—that’s for audiences to discover. But the film finally leaves room for the possibility that fate itself can be challenged, if not defeated.
The Cast: Anchoring the Fear
Kaitlyn Santa Juana as Riley
Santa Juana carries the film with a mix of grit and vulnerability. Her Riley isn’t the usual passive scream queen; she’s proactive, analytical, and above all human. In her wide-eyed dread, we see the raw terror that has always been the lifeblood of this series—but her quieter moments, particularly in scenes opposite her on-screen mother (Rya Kihlstedt), ground the horror in something recognizably real.
Teo Briones
As Riley’s closest confidant, Briones brings empathy and urgency. His chemistry with Santa Juana gives the film a genuine emotional core—no small feat in a franchise often criticized for treating its characters as disposable pawns for death sequences.
Rya Kihlstedt
Playing Riley’s mother, Kihlstedt is the key to the film’s “bloodlines” conceit. She delivers a performance shaded with survivor’s guilt and buried trauma, reminding audiences that horror lingers far beyond the jump scare.
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Richard Harmon & Owen Patrick Joyner
Harmon leans into sarcasm and skepticism, the type of character fans expect to be proven wrong in spectacular fashion. Joyner provides a softer counterbalance, the optimist in a sea of dread, which makes his fate all the more wrenching.
Anna Lore, Alex Zahara, April Telek, Andrew Tinpo Lee, Brec Bassinger, Gabrielle Rose, Max Lloyd-Jones
Each actor makes their moments count. In a franchise where supporting players often exist only to die, this ensemble manages to feel fleshed out. Bassinger, in particular, steals scenes with youthful energy that makes her impending danger sting.
Tony Todd as William Bludworth
It wouldn’t be a Final Destination without Tony Todd. His enigmatic coroner returns, lending gravitas and continuity to the series. His chilling line—delivered with that basso profundo growl—reminds audiences that death is not just coming, it’s patient.
Direction & Style
Lipovsky and Stein bring a slick but disciplined style to the series. Their work on Freaks (2018) demonstrated a knack for blending intimate character drama with high-concept spectacle, and Bloodlines benefits from that duality. They understand that what makes Final Destination work isn’t just the deaths—it’s the anticipation of them.
The film’s set-pieces are masterclasses in tension. Everyday objects become sinister with a glance: ceiling fans spin like guillotines, aquariums bubble like ticking bombs, and kitchen sinks threaten like loaded pistols. The directors know when to linger, when to cut, and when to let silence work its dreadful magic.
Why It Works
At its worst, Final Destination can feel like a gimmick stretched too thin. Bloodlines succeeds because it doesn’t just rely on death’s choreography—it ties it to theme. The idea that death runs in families adds heft to what could have been just another round of elaborate kills. And while gore-hounds will not be disappointed, there’s a surprising emotional resonance here, particularly in Riley’s attempt to end the cycle.
In short: the movie doesn’t just earn your gasp. It earns your ache.
Industry Voices
-
Kaitlyn Santa Juana (Riley):
“I wanted Riley to be more than a survivor. She’s a daughter, a friend, someone carrying generational fear. The horror felt real because it meant something.” -
Tony Todd (Bludworth):
“Fans know me as the messenger. But in this one, Bludworth feels more like a prophet. Death doesn’t just hunt—it waits.” -
Zach Lipovsky & Adam B. Stein (Directors):
“We asked ourselves: how do you make death scary again, seven films in? The answer was legacy. Death doesn’t forget—and neither do families.” -
Producer Craig Perry:
“We didn’t want to just reboot. We wanted to continue. Bloodlines honors the DNA of the series—literally.” -
Critic, early festival screening:
“The best Final Destination since the first. Scary, clever, and for once—haunting in the emotional sense too.”
Final Verdict
Final Destination: Bloodlines may be the seventh entry in a 25-year-old franchise, but it feels startlingly alive. With Kaitlyn Santa Juana anchoring a strong ensemble, sharp direction from Lipovsky and Stein, and a script that finally gives the mythology some emotional grounding, it’s more than just another Rube Goldberg of gore.
It’s a film about inevitability, inheritance, and the small, fragile ways we try to outwit the inevitable. And that’s a legacy worth continuing.
Facts at a Glance
| Detail | Info |
|---|---|
| Budget | Estimated $60 million |
| Screenwriter | (To be confirmed – likely New Line in-house team under Lipovsky/Stein) |
| Directors | Zach Lipovsky, Adam B. Stein |
| Producers | Craig Perry, Jon Watts, Emma Carey |
| Main Actors | Kaitlyn Santa Juana, Teo Briones, Rya Kihlstedt, Richard Harmon, Owen Patrick Joyner, Anna Lore, Alex Zahara, April Telek, Andrew Tinpo Lee, Tony Todd, Brec Bassinger, Gabrielle Rose, Max Lloyd-Jones |
| Production Companies | New Line Cinema, Practical Pictures, Freshman Year, Fireside Films, Domain Entertainment |
| Studio | Warner Bros. Pictures |
