What you should know about the hit suspense franchise
It’s been over two decades since Final Destination first made audiences think twice about everything—from plane rides to tanning beds, the hit film series has left viewers questioning what is real and what’s not. Now, the franchise is back with Final Destination: Bloodlines, the latest installment that revives its signature mix of premonitions, freak accidents, and fate-fueled chaos.
Whether you followed the films in the early 2000s or only remember Final Destination 2’s infamous log truck scene, the franchise still knows how to get under people’s skin. It doesn’t rely on a masked killer or haunted house, just the terrifying idea that when death comes for you, you can’t escape.
Now, Gen Z viewers, many of whom were too young for the originals, are discovering the series through TikTok edits, reaction videos, and streaming marathons. Bloodlines gives them a fresh entry point, while longtime fans get callbacks to the franchise’s best moments.
As we wait for the latest entry, here are six things to remember before watching the new film.
It all started with a plane crash.
The 2000 original introduced a teen who has a vision of a deadly flight explosion. He and a few classmates get off the plane—but death comes for them anyway.
Death is the real villain.
There’s no slasher here. The killer is fate itself, which finds clever, brutal ways to finish what it started.
Expect fake-outs.
Premonitions and dream sequences are part of the formula, you never really know what’s real until it’s too late.
Tony Todd keeps showing up.
The horror legend plays a creepy mortician named William Bludworth, whose warnings hint at a deeper connection to death.
The deaths are wild.
The franchise is known for elaborate chain-reaction kills—think of nail guns, gym equipment, flying wrenches, and even escalators.
Bloodlines is both prequel and sequel.
The story begins in 1969 with a deadly skyscraper premonition and jumps to the present, as a woman uncovers her family’s eerie link to death’s design. It expands the lore while staying true to the franchise’s fatal formula.
Final Destination: Bloodlines is set to hit theaters on May 16.
