I’ve seen all of the Final Destination movies now, and pretty sure that each was seen during its initial theatrical release. I really want to get into the weeds about the franchise, but that might be better to do as a Through The Years style post. That is now on my to do list!

It’s been over a decade since the last time we could go see Death chasing down the lucky survivors of a tragedy. This time we have drifted back to 1968 as a young couple go to the grand opening of a Space Needle looking restaurant called Sky View. Had this not been a Final Destination movie, one might think it is just a simple romantic date between these two. A date that will move two personal things forward for them as he proposes to her and she lets him know she is pregnant. But this is a Final Destination film, so I think you might know what happens next. The way the tragedy plays out is pretty fun (is it morbid for me to call this fun?) in the same vein as the opening tragedy for Ghost Ship was (ok, think that might definitely be morbid!) There are some points in the tragedy that are excessively graphic. And while I am both a massive horror lover (and even a massive Saw lover), I really don’t like the buckets of blood style of movie making. Just not my thing. When people start falling, I was fine with it, but the elevator death I thought was too much (for me.) As this long opening scene plays out, I found myself asking repeatedly “How is she going to escape this?” (Because of course I forgot that the whole thing always centers around a premonition of death first.) Finally we see her die and there is the vision revision where everyone lives!

The story though isn’t about 1968, it’s about 2024. And I’m gonna nitpick for a minute here, because this is 56 years later! Iris was pregnant, and had a daughter and then a son. The Daughter Darlene then got married and had two kids (Stefani is the main character in the movie.) In 2024, Stefani is in college, so her mother is somewhere in the realm of 75-80, but she seems pretty spry and healthy while Tony Todd’s character was like 5 in 1968 making him roughly around 60, but he seemed on death’s door. I guess it just seemed like Iris was younger seeming than J.B. (Tony Todd) and that felt off.

But back to the movie. Stefani is having nightmares, visions really, of the Sky View tragedy that didn’t happen. It is wreaking havoc with her life because she can’t sleep. She goes home to try and find out what is going on. She recognizes her grandmother and wants to talk with her, but nobody will help. Eventually she manages to get enough info to go find grandma. Grandma seems a bit crazy though. She is living in a cabin compound seemingly prepared to stop a zombie horde from breaking through. Their conversation is weird and unnerving, because Iris keeps worrying about Death trying to get to her. She has a massive journal that details all her theories regarding cheating Death and what the consequences are.  When Stepani chooses to flee from what sounds like the ravings of a crazy woman, things get messy. Iris hasn’t left the building in decades, but she decides the only way to convince Stefani about what is going on is to show her. Stepping outside allows Death to grab ahold of her, and she dies within moments of passing the journal to Stefani. 

Armed with the journal she starts putting pieces together and tries to convince her family that Death is coming for them all. There is a clue that someone found a way to cheat Death and break the chain. Nobody believes her though. Her uncle dies and still they don’t believe. 

Much of what happens is the sort of thing you expect in a Final Destination movie. Which isn’t me disparaging it in any way, just me not laying everything out here that happened. There is a great moment where a character seems to get skipped by Death and someone else dies instead of him, and the mom explains that nobody had ever known, but she had an affair and therefore he wasn’t part of the “chain.” Such a great scene because it really took an unexpected turn.

The scene with Tony Todd comes a bit more than halfway through, and it was a great emotional scene since we knew it was his final acting moment before he died. But it also came with a very confusing moment. The cabin where Iris had been hiding from Death isn’t explained. Just a vague explanation that she was safe inside there. But I want to know why. What did they do to Death proof the place? When Stefani visited there, it felt like her presence broke down the defenses a little bit allowing Death to try and make a move on Iris. 

This is definitely worth checking out. It has already established itself as the best reviewed and highest grossing of the franchise. Which means we can expect a 7th installment in the franchise. My guess is in 2027. Cranking out a movie a year like Saw did is a tough thing to accomplish, so I don’t think they will get it done for 2026. I am looking forward to seeing where they go with it in the next one. I give this one 8 stars, only because there were a few moments for me that were too bloody.