Movie Review: The Sixth Sense (1999)

Before I delve into this analysis of one of the most brilliant films ever constructed by man, let me just warn before hand that there will be spoilers. In fact, I don't think you can fully review The Sixth Sense without having spoilers in there. The Sixth Sense is a 1999 thriller film that includes horror elements, directed by M. Night Shymalan. Now in a very general principal, I enjoy Shymalan's movies. Even though I haven't seem them all, the ones I have seen have been all great (or great attempts) at movies. This film stars Bruce Willis as a psychologist who comes to the aid of a young man named Cole. Cole is a kid (Haley Joel Osment) who has the ability to see and communicate with the spirits of the deceased. Willis then helps Osment as he comes to terms with the "sixth sense" that he inhabits. I like The Sixth Sense for a lot of different reasons, but the thing that always sticks out to me is the ending. M. Night Shymalan is a director who loves to put twist endings into his works. Some are great (Unbreakable) and some are ones where you get where he was thinking, but it doesn't work out executionally as much (Signs). Now The Sixth Sense has an ending that was one of the first films to really ever be spoiled over the internet. Back in the days when they used to call it the World Wide Web. Hence www. However, one who read the spoiler would figure out that Bruce Willis's character as a psychologist, is a ghost himself, and that is why he is able to still communicate and engage with the role that Haley Joel Osment plays. When I first heard that, I instantly thought it was one of the smartest film twists I had ever seen. In fact, it may be the best film twist I've ever watched in any movie....ever. Now the movie does definitely have some elements of the film that lean towards horror. There's a scene where Cole sees the ghost  of a girl who has been poisoned by her own mother. That's disturbing crap right there. What makes Sixth Sense work the most, is the emotional parts of the film. This movie definitely implores lots of emotions through all the characters. Which in turn, makes for some really fascinating character archs. One of the scenes in the movie is Cole telling his mom that he sees and talks with her grandmother. Through a sad and real tear-jerker of a scene, Cole's grandmother makes up with her daughter. About a dispute that they had years before, when Cole's mom was just a kid. It's such an emotional scene, and that's why horror movies today don't do as well. There is no emotion in most horror movies. All classic horror's have emotions. Overall, The Sixth Sense is a great movie that excels at using paranormal and horror elements that allow emotion to flow through. Three stars.