PremonitionMovie Reviews

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Avg. Critic Score: 29 out of 100 Generally unfavorable reviews Metascore® based on all critic reviews
Information for Parents:
14 Iffy for 14+
Read Common Sense Media review

Critic scores range from 0 to 100, with higher scores indicating more favorable reviews.

  • 60
    Variety | Dennis Harvey

    This slick exercise about a housewife whose spouse might or might not be dead is effective until a downright maudlin close. Read full review

  • 50
    San Francisco Chronicle | Ruthe Stein

    A supernatural thriller that keeps your attention while failing to hold you in its grip. Read full review

  • 50
    USA Today | Claudia Puig

    Premonition is both dreary and absurd, suffering from a lack of intrinsic logic and terrible pacing, a one-two punch that kills off any chance of entertainment value. Read full review

  • 42
    Entertainment Weekly | Lisa Schwarzbaum

    One piece of advice in trying to make sense of it all: Follow the sleepwear, since Bullock cycles through a few garments that clarify which day is which. Another suggestion? Ignore the two-bit psychological and spiritual doggerel with which screenwriter Bill Kelly tries to deepen the meaning of the game. Read full review

  • 40
    The Hollywood Reporter | Michael Rechtshaffen

    The usually likable Bullock, obstructed by glaring continuity problems and often baffling character motivation, comes across as unsympathetically dazed and confused here, giving the viewer little reason to care about this desperate housewife's puzzling predicament. Read full review

  • 40
    Washington Post | Ann Hornaday

    Sandra Bullock is a disheveled, grumpy, adorable mess in Premonition, a psychological thriller that was no doubt pitched as "Medium," only longer and brunette. Or maybe "The Eternal Sixth Sense of the Spotless Groundhog Day." Read full review

  • 30
    The New York Times | Stephen Holden

    The sloppy, absent-minded Premonition is a giant step backward for Ms. Bullock. Read full review

  • 10
    Los Angeles Times | Kevin Crust

    Its biggest failing -- and the ultimate one for a lightweight entertainment such as this -- is that it's a deadly bore from start to finish. Read full review

  • 0
    Wall Street Journal | Joe Morgenstern

    Pay real money to see this feeble fiasco only if you're in the mood for "Groundhog Day" without the laughs. Read full review

  • 0
    Rolling Stone | Peter Travers

    The real horror here is watching Sandra Bullock drop her big Miss Congeniality smile to A-C-T! She does this by not smiling. What happened to the range she showed in "Crash" and "Infamous?" Read full review

View more reviews for Premonition on Metacritic

Information for Parents
Common Sense Media says Iffy for 14+ Dark Bullock deja-vu thriller won't interest kids.
What Parents Need to Know Parents need to know that if they're looking for the usual bright-faced, charming Sandra Bullock, this dark thriller will be disappointing and potentially confusing. As a new widow reliving the week of her husband's death out of sequence, it's unclear whether Bullock's character is insane, in a drug-induced hallucination, or living in a parallel universe. Several disturbing scenes include seeing a car that has just been crushed, a bloody electrocuted bird, a severed head tumbling out of a casket, a woman being committed to a psychiatric hospital, and a child's wounded face after an accident. The film never reaches a "horror" level of graphic images, but it's certainly too creepy for tweens.
  • Families can talk about thrillers with plot twists. What's the appeal of having a big "surprise" at the end of the movie? Are those surprises always satisfying? Why or why not? What do you think really happened at the end of this particular movie? Families can also talk about life and death and second chances. When given the chance to relive otherwise mundane moments with her husband again, how does Linda act differently? What would you do differently if you had a second chance with someone who's gone?
The good stuff
  • message true0 Positive messages: As she relives the week of her husband's seemingly inevitable death, Linda learns to appreciate the extra time with him and to make sure he knew how much she and their daughters loved him.
What to watch for
  • violence false3 Violence: Some disturbing images: Jim's casket opens, and viewers see a quick glimpse of a severed head (only the hair is shown) falling. Linda falls onto a bloody dead bird in her yard; a young girl accidentally crashes through a glass door, leaving her face bloody and later in stitches; Linda witnesses Jim's graphic, fatal car accident.
  • sex false0 Sex: Linda and Jim kiss and are then shown bare-shouldered in bed. Linda discovers her husband was going to have an affair with a co-worker.
  • language false3 Language: The usual: "s--t," "f--k," "damn," etc.
  • consumerism false3 Consumerism: Linda clearly drives a Ford SUV, and Jim works at a Ford car dealership.
  • drugsalcoholtobacco false3 Drinking, drugs and smoking: Grieving Linda drinks wine and takes prescribed Lithium for her erratic behavior.
An independent nonprofit dedicated to providing families the information they need to help kids thrive in a world of media and technology. © Common Sense Media Inc. 2010. All rights reserved.

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