Sandra Bullock’s Underrated 2000s Thriller on Netflix Will Make You Question Reality
By Robert Scucci | Published
Non-linear storytelling was all the rage in thrillers in the early 2000s, and in 2007. Premonition I definitely wanted to get in on the action. In its effort to present plot points in the most disorienting way possible, the film takes some time to establish what kind of reality we live in.
Once the stakes are clear, it becomes an interesting watch as you are encouraged to find clues along the way. Sandra Bullock holds it all together as a failing heroine, and even when the film gets sloppy, it’s held together by its strong lead, fractured timeline, and ambiguous ending that invites rewatching.
Very much a product of its time, Premonition relies on deep-seated emotional stakes while tackling questionable narrative territory. But if you like following the protagonist as he slowly pieces together the truth, it’s worth it.
Love, loss and lithium
Premonition begins with a mysterious death and only gets weirder and weirder. Jim (Julian McMahon) and Linda Hanson (Sandra Bullock) try to keep their marriage together for the sake of their daughters, Megan (Shyann McClure) and Bridgette (Courtney Taylor Burness). On the way to a business trip, Jim leaves a cryptic voicemail. Shortly after, Linda is informed by Sheriff Reilly (Marc Macaulay) that Jim died in a car accident. Funeral arrangements are made and Linda’s mother (Kate Nelligan) shows up to support her.
The next day, Linda wakes up and Jim is alive. The next day she wakes up and he is dead again. This time she learns that Dr. Norman Roth (Peter Stormare) prescribed her lithium and some suggest she has been drinking. None of it adds up and the film leaves you sitting in this confusion.
Classic tropes with a twist
Premonition plays the unreliable protagonist card, but does not immediately confirm what is real for the viewer. When Linda sees Sheriff Reilly one of the days Jim is still alive, he does not recognize her. The same thing happens with Dr. Roth, who appears to have no record of treatment for her. Questioning her sanity, Linda seeks spiritual guidance from Father Kennedy (Jude Ciccolella), who tells her to have faith in what is happening instead of trying to control it.
Linda eventually realizes that she is having premonitions of Jim’s accident and that her days are going out of order. Determined to save him, she begins looking for small details that follow the timeline. The cuts on Bridgette’s face come and go. Conversations change. Household objects move. Once Linda realizes that Jim’s days are numbered, she does everything she can to prevent tragedy from happening.
This is not how lithium works
While I enjoy PremonitionLithium’s narrative acrobatics, Lithium’s explanation has always bothered me. Lithium is a mood stabilizer that takes weeks to build up in the blood and does not cause hallucinations or a sudden break from reality. It’s not the kind of drug that someone can casually abuse, nor does it function as a plot device that would make someone appear mentally unstable overnight.
If the story needed medication to challenge Linda’s perception, it should have used a fictional prescription or something with immediate psychoactive effects. Same problem occurs in 2006 Wicker man remake, where Nicolas Cage’s character takes pills that would not actually cause the behaviors implied in the film. If you want to disorient the audience, just invent a drug. No one would care.
Premonition streaming
Medical inaccuracies aside, Premonition holds up because figuring out the timeline is half the experience. As The sixth sensethere is a breadcrumb trail that tells you that something is wrong and that Linda may be more aware than we are initially led to believe. The open conclusion invites review whether you want to conclude or just want to catch details you missed the first time.
Not a masterpiece, but a compelling low-budget take-apart psychological thriller you can stream Premonition now on Netflix.
