The fever of reviving and updating franchises has also captured the once-popular film cycle about Death, which doesn't want to end its workday with an unfulfilled quota. So it chases those who managed to avoid death ahead of schedule. It seemed that...

Stephanie is a college student who hasn't been able to sleep peacefully for two months. She keeps having the same nightmare, where diners at a luxurious restaurant atop a huge tower die in the 1960s. To regain control of her life, she tries to understand the nature of this dream. Her first destination on this journey is her family, and she ends up embroiled in a thrilling and very bloody adventure where her life and her relatives' lives are at stake.

Disturbing but not very smart — that's how you could describe the first two films of the 'Final Destination' franchise, which are considered the most successful. Then, perhaps something coherent and interesting came out in the fifth part, after which we all should have moved on. After all, a joke repeated five times loses all its charm, and we've already gotten our share of complexes and fears from this franchise.

And now, 14 years later, news of a sixth installment emerged, with almost all story details kept secret. Even the brief teasers and posters conveyed more of an atmosphere than hints at the plot. There were various rumors about what the sixth film would be about, even a version that the heroes would be rescuers. Having watched the new 'Final Destination: Bloodlines,' we now know who will be running from Death. And we also know that the horror film by Zach Lipovsky and Adam B. Stein has managed to restore the franchise's former charm and atmosphere, which were lost along the way of churning out new films.

In the sixth film, the authors managed to bring something new to the familiar plot and even turn the story of man's struggle with Death into something more. For the first time in 'Final Destination,' Death pursues not a group of random young people, but an entire family spanning several generations. If earlier this franchise was more of a cruel allegory for death that haunts us as we start to grow up, now at times 'Final Destination: Bloodlines' can even compete for the title of family drama. Such changes allowed Stein and Lipovsky to expand the boundaries of the familiar universe and also come up with a way to unite all previous films into a single, quite logical framework.

At the same time, 'Bloodlines' can also function as a standalone film, reflecting on generational trauma and the fear of hereditary diseases (and anything that can be passed down genetically). The film owes such changes in dramaturgy primarily to the writing team — the story was developed by Guy Busick (who worked on the new 'Scream', 'Ready or Not', and 'Abigail') and Lori Evans Taylor (psychological horror 'The Ghosts of the Past'). The idea was pitched to them by John Watts, who created the teenage trilogy about Tom Holland's 'Spider-Man'.

Not only fresh ideas appeared in the franchise, but also a new cast. You haven't met these guys in the deadly race before, except for Tony Todd, who witnessed the rise and fall of the franchise from the inside. Unfortunately, 'Final Destination: Bloodlines' became his last film in his career (he passed away in November 2024), so the authors paid tribute to him by creating a truly heartfelt scene and mentioning him in the end credits. Tony Todd's character is the historian of the franchise, the connecting thread of this cinematic universe, where the films were never directly connected to each other. And finally, we were explained how this character became an expert on Death's affairs.

With all this renewal, the creators naturally did not forget about the traditional distinctive features of 'Final Destination': spectacular and sometimes absurd deaths. In this regard, they pleased fans with new inventive ways to kill characters, adding a couple more to our impressive collection of fears. The familiar plot twists about 'cheating death' and the life hack with premonition are still there, but in a couple of places, the authors still tried to play with the audience's expectations regarding the impending deaths. And of course, longtime fans of the franchise will be able to find several pleasant references to already familiar moments.

Many feared that 'Final Destination: Bloodlines' could become another throwaway, a sequel for the sake of a sequel, without a reason to exist. However, as once happened with the updated 'Scream,' they managed to present an unpredictable, fun, humorous, still spectacular, and quite smart film. It does not obligate the making of new installments, in a sense looping the entire story of the franchise, and if desired, it could definitely be concluded here. Although, surely, producers will latch onto good reviews and box office returns and continue to release 'Final Destinations.' One can only hope that their fate will be more enviable than that of 'Scream 7.'