The ending of Final Destination: Bloodlines is as gory as you'd imagine and pays homage to two very iconic premonitions from the original series, leaving us wondering what the future holds for the franchise. But I guess this is just the beginning of another series of films that works for both nostalgic fans and those hoping for something completely new. The essence of the films is gore, and boy do we get it. The film begins as any Final Destination film usually does: showing a series of unfortunate events that kill a lot of people in a crowded place.
This time, the plot is set in the 1960s, in a restaurant called Sky View, where a young woman named Iris seems to be the one who will finally reveal herself as the one with the premonition, but that's not exactly the case. It all starts when Iris's boyfriend, Paul, takes her to Sky View by surprise on opening night. But Iris is already feeling a little strange seeing the enormous tower and the ultra-fast elevator with a glass door.
Directors: Zach Lipovsky, Adam B. Stein
Writers: Guy Busick, Lori Evans Taylor, Jon Watts
Stars: Kaitlyn Santa Juana, Teo Briones, Rya Kihlstedt
Obviously, he's right, because a naughty boy's mistake leads to the death of everyone at the Sky View that night, including a pregnant Iris. But if Iris also died, how can it be a premonition? Well, it's not a premonition; it's a nightmare that a girl named Stefani is having in the present. The sixth installment of the franchise means we'll be saying our final goodbyes to an important character we've seen for years, but read on to find out more.
The reason Iris survived the Sky View disaster was because she told everyone to get off the dance floor—a.k.a., death's door—on that very important night. More importantly, she took the coin the boy would have thrown into the vent, which would have started this whole chain of events. Iris not only saved herself, but an entire crowd—and this is a huge crowd. But we know how this works, and when you mess with Death, it comes back for you even harder. As we've seen in the other films, we know that people are capable of recognizing what's happening and finding ways to save themselves. Since this film begins in the 1960s, it's safe to assume this is the first time someone in the "Final Destination" universe has premonitions about death.
Well, Iris decided to build herself a death-proof cabin and locked herself in there for years. Shortly after her husband Paul died, Iris had no choice but to be alone because her children were taken away from her, thanks to her forcing them to stay home and her paranoia. So Iris survived, basically, by not living. You know what I find hilarious? If Iris hadn't left the cabin to show Stefani how Death works, she might have saved her entire family a little longer. If Iris and Paul had died in Sky View, they wouldn't have had any children. So, basically, none of the grandchildren, including Stefani, were meant to be. With Iris's death, Stefani is forced to figure out what to do to keep the rest safe. That's why the film is called "Bloodlines."
If you're a fan of the Final Destination franchise, you know a recurring man in every film: William J. Bludworth, also known as JB (RIP Tony Todd). We've all wondered why JB always knew what to do and why everyone turned to him when Death attacked. There have been many theories over the years about who he could be, but Final Destination: Bloodlines gives us a simple answer. He was a little boy when Iris saved him on that fateful night at Sky View. JB isn't Death itself, nor is he something supernatural; he's simply one of the first survivors, and he explains to Stefani and her family the two ways to survive: one is by killing someone and stealing years from them, and the other is by actually dying. Sure, the latter would require a resurrection, basically, to break the cycle. But JB isn't worried about Death anymore. Since his friend Iris passed away, and he would have been the last to die in the Sky View incident, JB doesn't want to cheat Death anymore and is happy to be gone. Considering the actor who played JB died shortly after filming this movie, I imagine the implication is that he will die off-screen. The end of a legend. But JB's final piece of advice to the family is to spend as much time as possible with their loved ones and be happy because "life is special." I guess this movie also had its emotional toll, right?
Something I found a little odd is that instead of Iris's children dying one after another, Stefani deduces it'll be one family after another. So, first Iris, then the oldest son, Howard, then his children, Erik, Julia, and Bobby, and then Darlene (Howard's sister), Stefani, and Charlie. Howard dies at the barbecue after Iris's funeral, where he steps on a piece of glass and then the lawnmower runs over him, crushing his skull and everything else. Everyone thinks it's just a freak accident, but Stefani is desperate to keep her cousin Erik safe, and when he turns off his phone, she freaks out. We're led to believe Erik died in a fire at the tattoo parlor, because who the hell can survive that? But apparently, leather jackets can save you from burning to death. Erik thinks he's invincible, and even when Stefani predicts what might happen to him as they walk home, he thinks she's just being paranoid, like his mother and grandmother. But it's Julia who takes a ball to the face in the same way Stefani described, sending her straight into the garbage truck, which has an automatic crushing system. The three kids desperately try to save her, and Stefani specifically tells her not to worry because she's not next. But she's completely shocked when she's left with only Julia's hand and watches her crushed inside the truck without being able to do anything about it. That's when Aunt Brenda reveals that Erik wasn't Howard's biological son. That's why he escaped death, because he was never on the list (I guess we just needed a sudden scare). But this leaves Bobby as the next target. Erik is determined to save Bobby, and even though Stefani is the one who has all the answers, she decides to come up with her own plan and get Bobby away from Darlene, Stefani, and Charlie to execute it. This happens while they're at the hospital to meet JB. Gosh, it's always the ones with piercings and tattoos who end up doing stupid things. Anyway, Erik thinks it's a good idea for Bobby to eat peanuts because he's allergic. This would cause him to die suddenly, and since they're in a hospital, someone can revive him. But Erik takes Charlie to the MRI room, and when he goes out to get a wheelchair to make sure everything goes well, he accidentally turns on the machine. We already know that piercings and MRIs don't mix.
Bobby eats the peanut butter cup, and Erik puts away the EpiPen. But soon, every magnetic object in the room, including his piercings, is sucked into the machine. So is Bobby's phone, which messes with the controls, turning the machine up to extreme levels. Erik gets trapped in the machine (I can't explain how), and the wheelchair hits him too. Bobby, somehow, still wants to survive after witnessing this and tries to get his EpiPen back. He injects himself, but the sound of the vending machine pierces his head, leaving us with only a part of the family. Erik died because he tried to play with Death and acted too indifferent. Iris knew that if she cheated Death, she had to be prepared for it forever, but Erik didn't care.
Stefani realizes that the only way the three of them will survive is if they go to Iris's cabin. In a sweet moment, Darlene tells her children that she'll stay in the cabin forever so her children can survive and have full lives. You know, it's the right thing to do, so if she doesn't die, the children won't either. But as they hug, the Sky View coin, which was in the book Iris gave Stefani with all the details on how to escape death, falls out. This is an important detail for later. Stefani enters Iris's cabin, breaks down the door, and goes straight to the house, but her seatbelt gets stuck.
She tells her mother and brother to go inside, because as long as Darlene is safe, she will be safe too. But everything goes wrong because even before Darlene can get inside, a small spark causes an explosion inside, nearly killing her instantly. But she manages to save Charlie and help him out from under some debris before being crushed by a lamppost (sigh). At the same time, the RV flips over into a body of water in front of the cabin, and Stefani is submerged inside, unable to unbuckle her seatbelt. But Charlie saves her, and we know she's practicing her lifeguard skills, so he also performs CPR, which means he brought her back to life. Which means the cycle was broken, right? False, because Stefani never died; she was just unconscious.
This movie focuses quite a bit on parent-child relationships and how restraining your child can seem like a paranoid trap.
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