THE SIXTH SENSE

dir: M. Night Shyamalan

"Do you know why you're afraid when you're alone? I do." - Vincent Gray

Brief Synopsis

A child psychologist is sent to help a troubled, anti-social young boy, only to learn that this boy has the ability to communicate with spirits.

Why It's Here

I'm going to get it right out of the way to begin with. We all know the ending, and if you are the sole person on this planet that doesn't, then turn away now, and watch this movie before someone spoils it for you. "The Sixth Sense" shook up audiences in 1999, creating one of the most popular quotes and most shocking twist ending in recent decades. It's twist is one for the history books, writer/director M. Night Shyamalan proved his genius through his Hitchcock-esque mystery storytelling. We all know it ends with Bruce Willis coming to the shocking realization that he too, is a spirit whom our young Cole can communicate with, and like the others, he isn't aware that he is dead.

Cleverly planted hints all along the film give this a great amount of rewatchability, the pacing and chilling atmosphere is a slow burn, setting in the mood of this child's demented lifestyle which he is forced to cope with. While the film is not an out-right horror, Shyamalan makes the ghosts eerie and miserable. Through Cole's eyes we see these horrific remains of people from past lives, reliving the moments where they died in creepy repetition. "I'll show you where my dad keeps the guns", one spirit tells Cole, fair enough replies the audience, until the boy turns to walk into the next room and a gapping hole is revealed in the back of his skull. Shyamalan's tendency to spook the audience with subtle indicators to how these people died or the grotesque hell that Cole lives in makes the entire film unnerving.

It has since been commenting often that it's implausible for Crowe to have not realized he was dead for so long. Being unable to interact with his wife or anyone else in the world besides Cole appears to be a gapping plot hole especially for a character that is supposed to be a psychologist. Sure, Shyamalan writes in that his marriage has grown extremely distant, yet the unlikelihood is still there. It wasn't until I read this article at Spout Blog that I gave this new thought. The idea is as unsettling as the ghouls that haunt this picture, while it may be an overanalysis, it ties in to the films on-going theme of isolation but focusing on Crowe instead of on Cole.

Cole's isolation was away from the living world, he couldn't interact with them normally because of his overbearing knowledge of the walking deceased, Cole is living a nightmare and it is a reality that addresses many fears and insecurities with many people: what happens after death, ghosts, and how our friends and family would speak or think of us after they have died. Yet, at the opposite side, is Crowe. Spout Blog wonders if the ghosts are a metaphor for insignificance. These spirits are all unaware of their fate, as if their lives were so pathetic that they noticed little change once they died. It is an insecurity that many people live with, to make the most of life and be popular and known, to change the world. But reality kicks in, and you do not do these things, and in the case of Crowe, you feel like you are making a difference, maybe, but in reality, you are so insignificant, you aren't even alive. However, due to the nature of Cole, Crowe was able to make a difference, leading him to finally rest in peace.

Shyamalan's film is an exercise in exploiting nightmares, his world is as bleak as they come with a powerful central mystery and a huge payoff. The director is clearly taking notes directly from Hitchcock the entire way through, from his hinted-at twist ending, to the slow, mysterious building relationship between the two irregular leads, coming finally to Shyamalan's own director cameo. Despite all these cut-and-paste mimics of Hitchcock's famous formula, Shyamalan still feels fresh and original, his powerful writing and focused directing elevate the film from mimic to masterpiece.