In Steven Spielberg’s Minority Report, the three future-seeing beings are called precogs. Their visions of crimes before they happen form the foundation of the film’s Precrime system.
The precogs are Agatha, Arthur, and Dashiell, three humans with a rare predictive ability. They are kept in a specialized facility, where their visions are interpreted and converted into information used by law enforcement. Their names echo famous mystery writers Agatha Christie, Arthur Conan Doyle, and Dashiell Hammett.
The film’s central conflict begins when Chief John Anderton is identified as a future murderer. The possibility of a “minority report”—a differing vision from one precog—raises questions about free will, certainty, and whether someone should be punished for an act that has not occurred.
Spielberg’s 2002 science-fiction film adapts Philip K. Dick’s 1956 short story. The movie expands the story’s premise into a futuristic thriller starring Tom Cruise, Colin Farrell, and Samantha Morton as Agatha.