Final Destination Bloodlines Features The Darkest Joke Of 2025

"Final Destination" is one of the most underrated horror franchises around, with kills so memorable they traumatize entire generations — and turn into great marketing stunts.

Part of the magic of this franchise is how it weaponizes mundane anxieties — fear of flying, roller coasters, and the general uneasy feeling that something bad is about to happen. The films are about the very relatable fear of death: the knowledge that it can happen at any moment, in any way. And that is also where the signature dark humor of "Final Destination" comes in, as it stares death right in the face and presents the audience with the most ridiculous Rube Goldberg-like kills.

The latest entry in the franchise, "Final Destination Bloodlines," may very well be its best. This is a film that ties the entire franchise together, that offers as many ludicrous and fun kills as it does a rather emotional story about family. And yet, this is also the film that has the single darkest joke not only in the franchise, but 2025 so far.

Heavy spoilers for "Final Destination" ahead.

Every "Final Destination" movie adds something to the mythology, including ways to (maybe) survive Death's design. The franchise's central concept concerns Death having a grand design, which people usually mess with by having premonitions of upcoming disasters, preventing deaths, and then dying in the order Death was coming for them anyway. The second film introduced the idea that new life can foil Death — for example, you can break free from Death's design by clinically dying, then getting resuscitated.

"Final Destination 5" added another idea. What if you could steal someone's place in Death's list, kill someone to claim their lifespan, and thus balance the books? It was a cool concept that made that film unique from its predecessors, and also made for a darkly funny scene where a guy thought he had killed a co-worker and stolen his years, only to find out that his victim was already close to dying from an undiagnosed brain aneurysm. The franchise has a particular dark sense of humor, one that turns even the most horrific deaths into creatively cheeky moments that are as gory as they are funny. "Final Destination 2" in particular had some of the best kills in the franchise – ones that understood how to use humor without lessening the impact of the kill scenes.

This takes us to "Bloodlines," which goes back to the idea of killing someone to steal their lifespan. The characters learn that line while at a hospital, when they meet Tony Todd's William J. Bludworth, who gives a touching speech about death and life. Erik (Richard Harmon) seriously considers the killing as an alternative to save his brother Bobby (Owen Patrick Joyner), who isn't so sure. 

Then, the two walk right by the maternity ward, and spend a few seconds too long just watching the babies there, considering the possibility. They do nothing, but the fact that (for a brief second) they consider killing a newborn to steal their lifespan is the funniest and darkest thing "Final Destination" has done.