I don’t know about you, but driving behind a truck carrying poles/logs/anything that could potentially fly out still scares me because of that one scene in Final Destination 2.
If you’re lucky enough (or unlucky, I can’t really decide yet) to not yet have been traumatised by the Final Destination films, the film franchise boasts five different movies that ran from 2000 to 2005. The Final Destination franchise sees groups of people who manage to cheat Death after one of them has a premonition where they are all supposed to die and saves them. However, taking the phrase “no one can cheat death” very literally, the characters often end up dead in various, horrible, overdramatized ways.
These gruesome death scenes, however, are traumatising in the fact that they’re actually kinda plausible (like the log thing, the tanning bed, the LASIK eye surgery) in an “ultra-rare, freak accident” kinda way. This is why, when BBC News (UK) tweeted about what is “believed to be the world’s first transparent pool built between two skyscrapers”, the Final Destination movies are being brought back to light. Dubbed “The Sky Pool”, it’s located in London at the Embassy Gardens and is suspended 35 meters in the air.
Swimmers enjoy warm weather in London at the Sky Pool which is believed to be the world’s first transparent pool built between two skyscrapers
https://t.co/mtRX8qvt0a pic.twitter.com/2skTGK9Jp7— BBC News (UK) (@BBCNews) June 1, 2021
The website for The Sky Pool describes it as having “captured imaginations across London and far beyond”, and boy did they get it so right and so wrong at the same time. Reactions to the pool include:
“Even if you give me a million, there’s no guarantee I’d swim there hahahaha. Final Destination?”
Kau bagi aku sejuta pon blom tentu aku mandi kat situ hahahaha. Final destination 👀 https://t.co/D1Uml9kfoy
— Dan (@Adans__) June 3, 2021
NO I’D LIKE TO KEEP MY FINAL DESTINATION SCENARIOS JUST SIMPLY SCENARIOS THANK YOU VERY MUCH https://t.co/0Qx1z384Ce
— miguel lago 🎀 (@jm_lago) June 2, 2021
This is what happens when a generation is raised without Final Destination https://t.co/P6fBznD1bE
— Ant (@anttexas) June 3, 2021
I have seen Final Destination way too many times to enjoy this. https://t.co/ksijnpcPfN
— Aeisha (@A_Roqky) June 1, 2021
Of course, these thoughts would have occurred to the designers – who spent a culmination of four years of construction, including six months of design planning – when lobbying the idea. According to Architectural Digest:
“In order to bring their vision to life, the developers brought on structural engineers Eckersley O’Callaghan and HAL Architects, who performed countless behavioral analyses to make sure the structure wouldn’t come crashing down—a fear any swimmer that high above ground may face. The engineers and architects landed on an eight-inch-thick acrylic frame with a nearly 12-inch-thick base that’s just shy of 10 feet deep and weighs a whopping 50 tons.”
Would you take a dip in the pool if given the chance? Maybe before Final Destination 6 drops to be safe? Since the announcement of a sixth movie was made over a year ago – with the writers of Saw, Patrick Melton and Marcus Dunstan set to see it through – we’ve gotten nary a peep for what to expect. Cinemablend did share the words of one of the producers of the franchise, Craig Perry, who teased:
“We’re toying with having it take place in the world of first responders: EMTs, firemen and police. These people deal with death on the front lines every day, and make choices that can cause people to live or die. We rely on their good judgement, expertise and calm demeanor. So why not put those people in the nightmare situation where every choice can bring about life and death – but now for themselves?”
*Cover image credits: @bbcnews / Twitter