THE FOLLOWING REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS OF THE DISCUSSED FILM. READERS DISCRETION IS ADVISED.
Sometimes, the greatest paths we end up taking are the ones we're not prepared for. PLOT
The Sixth Sense follows child psychologist Malcolm Crowe continuing his profession after being shot by his former patient Vincent Grey (Donnie Wahlberg), who would shoot himself right after. Months after the incident, he begins working with 9 year old Cole Sear, who reminds him of Grey. He is focused on helping him, believing it can rectify what happened to his former patient, as well as reconcile his relationship with his depressed wife Anna. Cole's mother Lynn has been growing worried about him due to discovering mysterious signs of physical harm on him. At a birthday party, he would be tormented by bullies where they would trap him in a cupboard, causing him to scream in terror as he would see encounter inside with him, the voice of someone suffocating. Shortly after this, he would tell Malcolm his secret of seeing ghosts who are unaware of being dead. He doesn't believe this at first, but suspects it to be true when listening an audiotape from one of his sessions with Vincent, hearing someone else begging for help, implying he had the same abilities as well. After accepting the truth, he suggests Cole to help them finish their business. Lynn would be unaware of what her son is going through, despite having supernatural encounters, such as all the kitchen drawers & cabinets being simultaneously open, losing her bumblebee pendant in which Cole didn’t take and find papers written by him that contain vulgar quotes from the dead. One night, the boy would encounter multiple ghosts: a woman who cut her wrists after going through an abusive marriage, a boy who accidentally found his father’s gun, and a girl named Kyra Collins who vomits. When he attends the latter's funeral, her spirit gives him a videotape that he shows to her father. Shockingly, it would reveal she was poisoned by her own mother. His decision to come to terms with his abilities has helped him do better socially, marking the end of his sessions with Malcolm. It is after they say goodbye where Cole tells his mother of his abilities, confirming it when sharing that he spoke to his grandmother. Malcolm would then return home and find his wife talking in her sleep, asking why he left her, which confuses him as he doesn't recall doing so. As she drops her wedding ring, he notices he's not wearing his own like he thought. This would reveal he never survived the gunshot and has been a ghost for some time, not remembering what happened like Cole would say about the dead. As Malcolm accepts his predicament and departs to the afterlife, he says his goodbye to Anna, telling her he loves her and things will get better.
THOUGHTS
I recall checking this out in middle school as I was boosting my exploration in film, and it became worth it as I was completely shook of what I witnessed, leading to me watch it many times since. Writer/Director M Night Shyamalan provides the most compelling story of his career by making it smarter than anyone anticipates. You know it’s a ghost story, but you cannot guess their intentions until it’s over. Originally, you wanna see them as threatening because they appear so suddenly, and then you find relief they just want to finish their business before accepting their lives to be over. Having said that, the makeup done on each ghost is surreal. At one point, you're stunned of seeing a boy having his head shot off, but that gets topped from seeing a victim of a fire and each one just walks around like it's normal. To me, that is what makes the movie so scary where you never know one’s true intentions until you look into it yourself. The concept of helping ghosts come to terms with their predicament is instantly a way to tell us to face our fears or we’ll never be able improve as individuals. This is exactly the case of what Cole goes through, a characters whose brought to life thanks to an incredible Oscar nominated performance from Haley Joel Osment. He has such an emotional weight to the role due to how mature he becomes with his predicament. He knows it will be difficult for others to believe what he’s going through, hence waiting so long to tell Malcolm and Lynn. He feels so alone in his environment and despite having a loving mother, he gained an unlikely guardian out of Malcolm who was able to encourage him to make a curse into a gift. And with such success, it helped him be comfortable of it. As said before, Lynn is the ideal mother you want because all she cares about is wanting him to be safe, which Oscar nominee Toni Collette pulls off encapsulating very well. You relate to her because she just wants to understand what her son is feeling and is confused with what she picks up on. When he tells her his secret, both were content with each other because they finally understood each other. Their embrace at the end was everything because that is the moment every family should have, being at peace with the past and accepting each other for who we are. While Cole’s story is so empowering, it is Malcolm’s that speaks so much volumes. Originally, Bruce Willis has us connected with him due to portraying him as a guy trying to redeem himself for someone he failed to save, only for him and us to realize he was trying to say goodbye. There is no way anyone could’ve predicted at the time he was dead all along during first viewing but if you did, you had to have picked up on how no adult besides his wife acknowledges him, or how we never see him open the basement door. The only hint in which Cole knows he is dead is where he first runs from him in the opening before talking to him in the church. Malcolm’s business he had to finish was saving someone who needed it and he succeeded when giving Cole the advice he would take to better himself, and that alone set up his overdue farewell. Saying goodbye is not easy for anyone, which explains why ghosts take so long to do so. But once they do, it is all worth it. And in return, Cole gave Malcolm advice on how to connect with his wife one last time. Speaking of which, the one performance that doesn’t get talked about enough, which needs to change, is Olivia Williams as Anna. The whole time, we know she’s emotionally distant because we assume she feels out of touch, only to realize she is grieving over her loss. She’s so cold because she still can’t bare what she went through. And seeing her feel close with her employee Sean is the closest she is getting to overcome what happened. She is hesitant not because Malcolm is watching over her, but out of feeling afraid of going through loss again. As long as she understands the past can’t always be duplicated, she will be comfortable letting more people into her life. And with Malcolm getting to finish his business, I think it paves the way for her to be happy again. At the start, James Newton Howard’s score has us feel intimidated of the ghosts only to give a somber conclusion that breaks our hearts. This movie is always going to hold up the older it gets, but there are still a few things I find questionable to this day. I was very startled seeing all the drawers & cabinets simultaneously open at the kitchen, but how did it not make any noise? This is the same issue I had with Poltergeist because it’s a lot of work to be done alone. Also, did Lynn ever see Cole talking aloud to Malcolm in the living room? I know she’s a busy lady, but I doubt she’d lack being observant at that point as a parent. The same can be said of her being unaware he went to a stranger’s funeral. And let’s be honest, that teacher is lucky to not be fired for calling Cole a freak in class. I know he was uncomfortable of the kid’s breakdown, but he of all people in the classroom should know that was not a good move. And I know Cole is pretty smart for his age but one thing for sure, he should’ve turned right around after he heard the ghost’s voice from the closet at the birthday party. Had he acted sooner, the bullies would’ve not tormented him as they did. The biggest confusion I had with Malcolm being a ghost is that he doesn’t relive how he died the way the other ghosts do. I know it’s the point they don’t know they’re dead, but it’s crazy there is no hint of harm on his body despite we saw him get shot. What did annoy me about Malcolm smashing the window is that no bystander outside doesn’t notice it except Anna and Sean. Another thing, how come Malcolm never checked Vincent’s taped sessions when first recording them? He would’ve saved himself from murder had he looked into it sooner. Other than that, this movie remains great for what it is. In short, The Sixth Sense is a horror classic for knowing how to leave you guessing until the truth is officially revealed, becoming a worthy Best Picture nominee in the process. If you want a movie to be so smart, this is the kind for you.
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