The Theology Of … is a series in which we tell parents about the overt or subtle spiritual worlds of various popular media. Each article will explain the theological landscape of a relevant series, and when appropriate, we’ll provide ways for parents to use said content as a way to teach their child about Christian theology.
Introduction to the Series
When I first pitched the Theology Of series, part of my pitch included a variety of movies, TV shows and video games that I felt came with enough spiritual oomph and cultural relevance to merit a blog. Some of these, such as Pokémon and Star Wars, easily fulfilled those two requirements. Others, meanwhile, got placed on the backburner, either due to sheer amount of lore (cough, cough, Warhammer) or because they’d fallen outside of the cultural spotlight.
One of the franchises at the bottom of our barrel was Final Destination. It stayed down in the grime for a variety of reasons, one of which was the cultural relevance: The only remaining impact one could feel from the series was an acute wariness of driving behind logging trucks.
Other reasons also stayed our hand: It’s a horror franchise. It revels in death and is over-the-top gory. And each film comes with more content issues than all the other media we’ve analyzed on Theology Of combined. And so, for the past few years, the franchise has sat there with little chance that we’d ever actually talk about it.
And then Final Destination Bloodlines came out—a whole decade and a half since the last entry. Not only that, but its box office numbers shot past every other film in the series, doubling the gross earnings of the next-highest earner. Much like a character from the franchise itself, the series had apparently evaded Death and was looking better than ever. And with its renewed cultural relevance, we felt that if we were to ever cover the series—and help parents find a way to connect it to a gospel conversation with their teens—now would be the time. Still, make sure to check out our reviews for the films, since we cannot stress enough the gruesome content found in the Final Destination franchise.
So, without further ado, let’s turn on some John Denver and learn a thing or two from Rube Goldberg as we learn how to confront and dodge some of these spiritual themes.
Overarching Spiritual Worldview
All six movies follow the same basic premise:
Someone has a supernatural premonition wherein they witness a horrific disaster, resulting in the deaths of dozens of people, including him- or herself. After enduring the vision, he or she recognizes that they’re only moments away from watching the same events play out in real life. Panicking, they manage to escape the tragedy, and their fear causes a number of others to escape their would-be deaths, too. However, the survivors soon discern that Death (a sort of malevolent entity) is unhappy with the evasion of their appointed ends, and it begins killing them off, one by one, in horrific ways. Those remaining try to find ways to escape the vengeful Death, though they all eventually wind up kicking the bucket (save for two characters who we’ll discuss later).
Unfortunately, even though Death usually claims its victims in the end, those victims’ actions in the time they’ve “stolen” for themselves affect other people, changing the fates of others around them. This causes Death’s plans to spiral out of control: For instance, an interaction with a survivor may cause someone to go down a new path that diverts from their original, predestined death—so Death adds that unknowing survivor to its kill list. Some survivors likewise go on to have children, and Death decides to kill any resulting progeny to fix its plans.
The reason Death does this is best explained by a statement from Death in one of the franchise’s books, Looks Could Kill. (We should mention that the fanbase debates the novels’ canonicity, but we’ll occasionally reference them for the sake of filling in gaps the movies otherwise leave ambiguous.)
“You have disrupted the schemata, the Master Plan by which all things are kept in balance on this plane of existence. Because of your meddling, there are numerous souls living past their predestined harvest. […] It falls to me to correct the imbalance created by so many lives escaping my clutches. The repercussions could, very soon, be catastrophic, as these lives exist outside the schemata, interacting with people they were never meant to meet, doing things they were never intended to do. So many loose threads, creating even more loose threads. Soon they will jam the loom, and the very fabric of reality will begin to sheer and tear.”
Death’s Rules
Throughout the six films, we never see Death itself. However, it appears to be some sort of malevolent entity rather than “the universe” correcting itself. In earlier films, we catch occasional glimpses of a black smoke-like monster lurking in some scenes. However, in one book, Death takes the form of a man so it can talk to a survivor. Still, we learn a variety of information about how Death operates and the rules by which it seems to abide.
First, Death kills the survivors in the order they would have perished in the original tragedy (save for the second movie, in which it attacks in reverse order). And it won’t allow those further down its list to die before it is their turn. However, should Death attempt to kill someone, and they evade Death again, it is more than happy to move to the next person on its list before eventually circling back around. So technically, as long as someone is wary enough, they can cheat Death indefinitely. (The series has never dealt with simple old age, so it’s unclear if they’d be immortal.)
Second, Death hates to be cheated: The survivors tend to die in ways that are far more horrific than what the average person experiences as Death takes its wrath out on them. The entity likewise isn’t afraid of collateral damage. If someone not on Death’s hitlist attempts to intervene to save someone, Death won’t hesitate to kill them, too.
Third, Death schemes. Its kills often involve a Rube Goldberg-esque series of events. For instance, Death might pop out a screw, which causes a gutter to sag, which causes a ball to roll through gasoline and into a faulty wire, lighting the gasoline and blowing up the victim. In other words, Death often plans out attacks requiring multiple, highly-specific steps to work.
However, survivors can escape Death’s relentless hunt in one of two ways:
If a character kills someone else, Death credits their victim’s remaining lifespan to them. However, because they can’t know for certain how long that person has left to live (and because many of these characters can’t bring themselves to murder), this method is unreliable.
The other way to evade Death is to die and then be brought back to life. Death counts the person’s debt paid, and it additionally stops pursuing everyone behind them in the order, too. This is the method that Final Destination 2 survivor Kimberly Corman uses when she drowns, flatlines and gets resuscitated by doctors, saving herself and the final remaining survivor. However, this method is likewise risky, for obvious reasons.
Glossary of Important Characters/Topics
Death – Death is the allegedly omnipresent entity orchestrating every person’s demise. It has determined the exact moment every human should die, and it becomes vengeful if anyone evades their appointed death. It asserts that reality itself will tear apart should too many people live past their ends. It’s revealed in Looks Could Kill that it can also save people, as it offers one survivor healing for her burns in exchange for helping it slay the other survivors.
William Bludworth – William is a mysterious mortician who appears in many of the Final Destination movies, offering cryptic warnings to the survivors about the mess they’re in. While many thought that William was a manifestation of Death itself, Final Destination Bloodlines reveals that he’s simply the last survivor of an avoided tragedy meant to claim hundreds of lives. And Death has spent so much time claiming the lives of those who were supposed to die before him that it hasn’t had the chance to get to William yet. Still, that doesn’t stop the man from acting vague and creepy as he lurks around whistling a variety of ill-timed Christian gospel hymns.
Premonitions – Characters receive premonitions that warn them of the carnage to come. It is never explicitly stated whether these premonitions are sent by some supernatural entity or just some latent ability a few anxious people tap into. A line in the fourth film implies Death itself might be sending the premonitions to set up a later kill. Others claim that the premonitions are glimpses into what did occur in an alternate universe. The best lead we can find is in Looks Could Kill, which makes a connection between the premonitions and Cassandra from Greek mythology, who was blessed with the ability to prophesy but cursed by Apollo so that no one would ever believe her. It states that her spirit still roams the Earth to warn others of the inevitable disasters.
Signs – Similar to the premonitions, characters can receive and interpret signs that indicate when Death is about to strike. For instance, song lyrics might relate to how Death intends to kill them, or a shadow on the ground may look just like the weapon Death is aiming at someone’s head. Some characters get better at picking up on these signs and thereby avoid being ambushed by Death time and time again.
The Number 180 – This number appears in many of the movies, often just before a disaster occurs. Its meaning and role in the franchise isn’t clear, though many fans attribute it to the idea that death is “180 degrees” in the opposite direction of life.
Connecting, and Contrasting, the Gospel
Despite the god-like nature of Death in Final Destination, we can derive some spiritual themes that easily connect and contrast with Christian theology.
- Life Is Precious – When one group of survivors reaches out to a man for help, he departs with some final words: “I intend to enjoy the time I have left, and I suggest that you do the same. Life is precious. Enjoy every single second. You never know when … Good luck.” Indeed, the time we’re given is a gift not to be wasted. Scripture tells us that (unlike the Final Destination franchise) worrying won’t let us “dodge death” or “add a single hour to his span of life” (Luke 12:25), as extending life is something only God can do (Isaiah 38). Still, the idea that “life is precious” reminds us instead to number our days that, in the face of our frailty and mortality, we may run to the Lord for salvation (Psalm 90).
- Sovereign God – According to Final Destination, Death must make contingencies and adapt as mortals find loopholes in its long-made machinations. Meanwhile, Scripture teaches that God is sovereign. Therefore, we cannot thwart His plans. The Christian God is not surprised by anything. And because He is all knowing, all powerful and omnipresent, nothing occurs without His permission. This includes the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, whose death and resurrection had been planned by God to save sinners from before time began (Acts 2:23; Ephesians 1:11; Isaiah 41:22-23, 45:21 and 46:9-10; Job 42:2; Psalm 135:6; Proverbs 16:9). God’s control shouldn’t cause us to fear but to rejoice in comfort, especially since He has conquered death for us (1 Corinthians 15:54-55).
- The Death of Death – Death feels particularly dark and uncaring in the Final Destination universe. It kills, and there is nothing to stop its reign of seemingly pointless slaughter. In fact, the only way to evade it is to either kill someone else or risk ending your own life by temporarily dying. This greatly contrasts with Christianity, in which God Himself, in His loving kindness, defeats death through His own sacrifice. He provides a way of escape from the sting of sin and death: through Jesus Christ. Rather than us forcing someone else to die or needing to secure salvation through our own works, Christianity teaches that Jesus voluntarily died and rose again to save those who repent of their sins and put their faith in Him (Romans 8:1, 10:9), and we are credited His righteousness. While Death may find victory in Final Destination, it has no victory in the Christian worldview. And because God is in control, Death has no chance to obtain victory, either.
Conclusion
The Final Destination universe presents a world where Death reigns as a semi-sovereign and malevolent entity—a far cry from the real world’s Christian God, who is fully sovereign and fully good.
We hope that this blog serves as a helpful primer for parents looking to understand the spirituality in Final Destination, so that you can be equipped with the knowledge you need to lead a gospel conversation or to decide whether the franchise is right for you.
And be sure to check out our other Theology Of guides!
