In many respects, Premonition (2007) is a lot of what I rail against in film.  It is listed most places as a psychological thriller, but it has enough of a supernatural element to it to make it push up against the borders of horror.  I am not a fan of that latter genre.  What redeems it somewhat is a Catholic element, but we will get into that discussion later.  The biggest problem for me is its nonlinear storytelling.  You will see what I mean in a moment, but for now I will admit that I get why this method was used.  I did not like it, and I lost track of the thread about halfway through, but I understand the reasoning.  Finally, it has an ending that I did not appreciate.  Mostly, I chose this one because I saw Sandra Bullock and thought, how bad could it be?  Read the rest of this review and decide for yourself.

It does not appear that Linda Hanson (Sandra Bullock) is having a Premonition in the beginning.  She is dreaming of when her husband, James “Jim” Hanson (Julian McMahon), surprised her with their dream home.  She awakens in the bedroom of that home without Jim next to her.  The people who stir her from her slumber are her daughters, Bridgette (Courtney Taylor Burness) and Megan Hanson (Shyann McClure).  As Linda prepares her children for school, the little ones wonder when their dad will return from his business trip.  Linda tells them later that day before leaving and carrying on with the rest of her chores.  Those duties are interrupted by a knock at the door.  Opening it, she finds Sheriff Reilly (Marc Macaulay), who informs her that Jim has died in a car accident.  She tries to keep it together until after she picks the girls up from school, relaying the news to them once they return home.  Linda’s mother, Joanne (Kate Nelligan), comes to help, putting the children to bed while mom curls up on the couch in her grief.  When Linda opens her eyes in the morning, she is surprised to find herself in bed and Jim at home watching television in the kitchen.  If you are disconcerted, imagine how Linda feels.  Thus, I am going to explain what is going on now and straighten out the timeline as best I can.  She is experiencing the events of this week out of order, but they all revolve around Jim’s death.  She goes through this next day perplexed but making the best of it until the following morning, which is the day of the funeral.  As she begins to notice something is amiss, her initial inclination is to not believe Jim is dead, which causes some concern for her loved ones.  Because of this belief, she acts erratically.  Outside the church at the funeral, she demands the casket be opened over the objections of the undertakers.  Graveside, she sees a woman looking on from a distance.  This turns out to be Claire Francis (Amber Valletta), one of Jim’s co-workers.  Linda tries to approach the newcomer, but Claire speeds off in her car saying this is a mistake.  There is also the mystery surrounding the cuts and stitches on Bridgette’s face.  Between all this and the bottle of lithium pills in their bathroom, Joanne makes the decision to commit her daughter into psychiatric care under Dr. Norman Roth (Peter Storemare).  He had been the one to prescribe her the medicine, though at this point he is a stranger.  As it turns out, Linda had seen him the day before the accident to discuss what is happening to her.  What brings her to contemplate taking the pills is her growing suspicion that Jim is cheating on her with Claire.  Linda goes to the car dealership where they work together and notices some chemistry between Claire and Jim.  With the strange time distortion Linda is experiencing, she wonders whether she has the power to save Jim from his fate, or if she should try to do so.  Waking up on the Sunday before the crash, she suggests that he take their daughters for an outing.  While they are away, she heads to the church and talks to Father Kennedy (Jude Ciccolella).  Linda explains what is happening to her and the priest responds with talking about similar historical instances of people being granted insight into future events.  Thankfully, he does not make it out to be some kind of magical gift, but puts it into the proper context, one of Faith.  He posits that what she is going through is a miracle, a gift from God.  Linda says that it does not feel that way, but she is at least open to the possibility of Divine assistance.  His last note is to tell her that it is not too late.  The movie seems to interpret this as meaning that she can still repair her relationship with Jim.  And that is what she sets about doing, showing him and their daughters how much they are loved.  Then, somehow, the next time she gets out of bed it is the day of the accident.  Rushing out the door, she tries to catch up with him before he reaches the point on the road at which the accident takes place.  She arrives on time, talking to him on his phone and getting him to pull over. However, as he is trying to turn around, narrowly missing one car, his vehicle stalls.  Unable to get it restarted, she looks on in horror as the fuel truck coming up from behind jackknifes trying to stop and he is killed.

As I mentioned in the introduction, I do not like sad endings, and Premonition qualifies on this count.  Yet, the final scene is not a fiery wreck.  Instead, it is Linda once more in bed, this time days after the collision, with Bridgette and Megan informing their mom that the movers arrived.  She is also sporting a pregnant belly.  Thus, at least it has a pro-life moment at the close.  Between that and the sequence in the church with Father Kennedy, there are some solid bits on which to focus my Catholic energies.  As I sat puzzled through most of the proceedings, I did not take many notes until the discussion with the priest.  It should be emphasized again that he says the right things.  God can give us the ability of precognition, and has clearly done so at certain points in time.  I am hesitating to use the word prophecy, although it is the correct one.  When that term is put out there, people conjure images of grand events like the end of the world.  That is not what is happening in this movie, at least on a large scale.  God gives Linda insight not necessarily to save Jim, but to learn to appreciate what she has with him.  Of course, it is strange to be going through days out of order, but the love of her vocation as wife and mother is the real gift, one that she had lost at some point in her life.  This is also something Father Kennedy reminds her of while they are talking.  In circling back to this exchange, it is important to acknowledge how great it is that in her suffering, Linda turns to the Church.  She flatly tells the priest that she needs help, that she needs Faith.  His response is that Faith is something beyond ourselves, and that it is about love.  This is the perfect message for Linda’s grief.  God does everything out of love, a love beyond our understanding.  I guess this is an idea she has come to terms with by the final scene.

At the same time, it may not seem like Linda has accepted God’s will as she sees her Premonition come true in the form of Jim’s burning car.  That happens at the end, or is it the beginning?  If you are confused, so too is Linda.  At one point, she makes a timeline of the events, though it does not appear to have helped much.  Anyway, God is good, and this movie is not.