The Final Destination franchise, originally the spawn of an X-Files spec script, has historically been both ridiculed in the critic community and beloved in the horror community. As independent online journalism and film criticism have collided more and more in the last decade, as well as once-young teens howling at the movie screen grown into adult professional film critics themselves, the horror genre (even franchise cash-ins) have become far more accepted by those with a keyboard or pen. Genre-fair that was once deemed too absurd to be accepted as quality now is allowed to be taken for what it is: pure engineered entertainment and at its best: exercises in creativity.

That isn’t to say all horror gets a pass, but much like 2023’s Saw X, the enormous critical jump between this new entry in the Final Destination series compared to its predecessors is less comparative of its quality (there is only one truly bad entry: the 4th), and more an overdue acceptance of what this franchise has always been. Is it better written, acted, and directed than prior entries? It’s that, also. But don’t go in to Bloodlines expecting the prestige of The Exorcist. Instead, it works as a creative retooling of a fun concept that had nearly been driven into the ground, breathing fresh life into a franchise whose dedicated fans have kept alive for two decades.

Initially pitched by producer Jon Watts, the premise of a teen with a fatal premonition of their future only to avoid such fate and run from Death’s revenge is intact with one key twist: it’s not their vision, it’s their ancestor’s. Stefani Reyes (Kaitlin Santa Juana) is being taunted by all-too-real visions of her young estranged grandmother, who prevented a “natural” distaster and saved hundreds of lives back in the 1960s. Since then, Death came back for those she helped rescue, and if not them, the children and grandchildren of those people who never should have been born. Stefani must convince her family she’s not crazy (a feat not every Destination protagonist has been able to achieve before inevitable vindication by gruesome death traps) and race against time before each of her family is picked off one by one.

Juana is a surprisingly strong lead, boosting her presence with inherent charisma and a tight family bond with her brother Charlie (Teo Briones) and her two cousins: the ultimate alt-punk scene teen of the early 2000s somehow spat into 2025, Erik (Richard Harmon) and the adorable himbo with a pet turtle, Bobby (Owen Patrick Joyner). Fun subversions of the in-order deaths and gleeful suspense during Rube Goldberg natural contraptions ensue over the course of a surprisingly well-paced 110 minutes. Does the blood splatter look often a bit too digital? Do the some of the kills lean too cartoonish? Yes and yes. The film even maxes its budget with some incredibly grand set pieces that feel almost too extravagant for what used to be a more scrappy, small-scale style of filmmaking.

As much fun as it ends up being, and as much fun as it would be to see more of this series, one has to wonder if this might be where we’ve peaked. Once the late Tony Todd appears in his last onscreen appearance ever and delivers a moment that tenderly pierces the heart before disappearing into the darkness, you know it’ll be a feat to even come close to this entry in the future. If directors Zach Lipovsky and Adam B. Stein stay on board, we might be in good hands regardless.