Premonition - A Movie Review

Is it just me, or has this been the strangest week ever? Everything feels so out of order.

Released to theaters in 2007, Premonition is about a woman who learns about the death of her husband. But, the next day, he’s alive. In one of the strangest weeks of Linda’s life she experiences the days out of order trying to put together the pieces to save her husband from the inevitable.

For those who have not seen Premonition, it is a movie that you have to pay close attention to. The whole story is intriguing. What if you were to experience a normal week out of order? Premonition is an enticing film, despite some plot holes, capturing a new mystery. It delivers a message about appreciating life for what you have.

Sandra Bullock never lets audiences down. In every role that she is given, Bullock manages to create new and different traits in contrast to her normal stereotype as a strong-willed woman. I feel like her role as Linda is different. Linda is strong-willed but she has been facing battles, keeping her thoughts locked up.

Bullock hits the mark with incredible emotion as she struggles to make sense of why this is happening to her. Facing a week of the days happening out of order, Linda opens up, learning that talking about issues is very important.

Julian McMahon has an interesting part in Premonition. He goes through a journey of his own. Subtlety is mastered in Premonition. Based on his interactions with Linda or his two daughters, Jim is also having difficulty opening up about his own issues. Since he is not the one experiencing the weeks out of order on his death, his angle of the story bears an intriguing tone, fighting with his conscience between right and wrong.

The casting choices were great. Children have always had an interesting role in the film. Bridgett and Megan have a strong purpose in the story. Instead of just being kids who you feel sorry for, Courtney Taylor Burness and Shyann McClure made their own character choices and were important in the dynamic of Linda and Jim.

Nia Long, Marc Macauley, Kate Nelligan, Amber Valletta, and Peter Stormare were excellent. Premonition was a character movie. Each member of the cast analyzed the script, therefore connected with Linda in different ways. As the story goes, each character proves to be an obstacle, fearing Linda’s mental state and questionable actions based on the bewildering week.

Premonition is a very well-acted film, but it could have gone through a better edit. The out of order week is explained to us in a very detailed calendar that Linda feverishly writes out, but it still does not make sense.

One major detail circles around one of the daughters. An incident that happened earlier in the week is ignored or forgotten in the first scene of the film which should have been prominent throughout the whole film.

Unless Mennan Yapo was going for a different approach that audiences would not find predictable, Premonition concludes on a downer, but in contrast, can be seen as poignant. The whole story is very intriguing and I have gone back to watch it multiple times, catching clues, but it’s still confusing. In a way, the story kind of relates to Groundhog Day, except, it is not the same day. The acting is spectacular which saves it.

I would still recommend Premonition for those who are curious about the story. On the first watch, it is a suspenseful film, one of my favorite genres. I would suggest that you pay very close attention.