Final Destination Bloodlines ending explained: Does Stefani survive like Kimberly Corman?

Final Destination Bloodlines presents the sixth chapter of this franchise, which has often dealt with the nature of death. However, this time, it also serves as an emotional farewell to late horror legend Tony Todd. The film is written by Guy Busick and Lori Evans Taylor. Its official logline reads:

"Plagued by a violent recurring nightmare, college student Stefanie heads home to track down the one person who might be able to break the cycle and save her family from the grisly demise that inevitably awaits them all."

Final Destination Bloodlines is directed by Zach Lipovsky & Adam Stein and stars Kaitlyn Santa Juana as the protagonist, Stefani. Teo Briones, Brec Bassinger, Anna Lore, Richard Harmon, and Owen Patrick Joyner round out the cast. It was released in US theaters on May 16, 2025, to a highly positive reception.

For context, Kimberly Corman survived in Final Destination 2 by deliberately drowning herself and being revived, which was believed to reset death’s design. Her successful resuscitation allowed her to cheat death — at least temporarily.

At the end of Final Destination Bloodlines, Stefani’s mother dies while saving her from drowning. Her brother, Charlie, uses CPR to bring her back to life. However, this supposed resuscitation doesn’t save her from the trap of death. Let’s find out why.

Disclaimer: This article contains spoilers for Final Destination Bloodlines. Reader discretion is advised.

---

What is the plot of Final Destination Bloodlines?

Final Destination is the kind of film series where you know what will happen even before you enter the cinema. Of course, someone’s going to die when they least expect it, and their death is going to be a grisly affair. So, all it leaves us with is asking: How? How would they die? And what would they try to do to protect themselves?

In Final Destination Bloodlines, the fear of death connects a family that was not meant to breathe life. It begins in 1968, when a young woman, Iris (Brec Bassinger), has a premonition about the deaths of everyone around her. She saves them, but death follows her from then on. It makes her overprotective of her children, which strains their relationship.

Years later, her granddaughter, Stefani (Kaitlyn Santa Juana), has premonitory nightmares of the same incident. It leads her to meet Iris, who lives an isolated life to evade death. Still, shortly after their meeting, Iris dies, which inadvertently leads her bloodline to fall into the unavoidable trap. Her son, Howard, dies, followed by his daughter, Julia.

Yet, his wife Brenda survives, and so does Stefani’s father, Marty. That’s because death follows Iris’s blood relatives. So, Marty and Brenda are not on death’s list. For the same reason, Erik initially survives — since he is Brenda’s son from an affair. However, fate catches up with him sooner rather than later.

---

How does Final Destination Bloodlines end?

Stefani realizes that death is trying to kill their family from the oldest to the youngest in order. Upon her mother Darlene’s suggestion, they meet William Bludworth, who happens to be the survivor of the Skyrim incident where Iris saved everyone around her. William reveals two ways to evade death: take a life or die and be revived — much like Kimberly Corman in Final Destination 2.

Erik decides to follow the latter rule. He feeds Bobby something that will put him in a hospital. That way, he can be brought back to life. However, he unwittingly sets up a chain reaction that kills them both — since he essentially tried to cheat death.

Soon, Stefani heads to Iris’s cabin with Charlie and Darlene. Her seatbelt jams, which leaves the rest to head to the cabin, only to find it burning.

Their RV falls into the water, and Stefani starts drowning. Charlie uses CPR to save her and thinks he revived her life. However, what they don’t realize is that she doesn’t die by drowning. So, it doesn’t count as a resuscitation as it once did for Kimberly. This means they cheated death, which ultimately cost them their lives at the end of Final Destination Bloodlines.

---

Unlike Kimberly Corman, whose intentional death and revival reset death’s design, Stefani’s resuscitation fails because her death-by-drowning never completes — meaning she never truly dies, and thus cannot cheat death.

Also read: Good Boy ending explained: What is the point of this Norwegian horror film?