The Sixth Sense: A Fusion of Fright and Thought

Isn't it strange how I wind up discussing The Sixth Sense (1999. PG-13) only a few days before Halloween? As usual, I randomly selected a decade and a top grossing drama, and it just so happened to land on this film. The movie is directed and written by a man who many critics label as infamous, M. Night Shyamalan. In current years, he's been the mastermind behind many flops such as Lady in the Water (24% rotten tomatoes), The Last Airbender (11%), and After Earth (11%). It's not so much the sales of his movies, but the unsatisfied audience that creates buzz. The man who was once perceived as a unique, "new-kind-of-artist", is now often criticized for his overuse of plot twists, inability to create raw or captivating dialogue, and the list goes on. Nonetheless, when The Sixth Sense was released, Shyamalan was still the new, fresh-faced guy that everyone seemed to like in Hollywood. So let's explore a film created pre-Shyamalan downfall.

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Earning an impressive domestic total gross of about 293.5 million dollars, The Sixth Sense became the summer smash hit of 1999. The film centers around Malcolm Crowe (Bruce Willis), a child psychiatrist from Philadelphia who meets a troubled little boy named Cole (Haley Joel Osment). Cole is able to communicate with the dead. Scared and confused, Cole wants the sprits to go away. Malcolm advises Cole that if he faces the ghosts and tries to help them, they will eventually disappear. The running plot leads to a surprising ending that I will not reveal. This is a spoil free blog!

The Sixth Sense is interesting in the fact that the movie is a blend of different genres. Sure, it can be argued that basically every movie is a mixture, but The Sixth Sense is more noticeable. While it can be considered a drama, it also has many elements of a thriller, or even a horror film. Other than the blending of genres, the movie has multiple purposes. What is the movie trying to say? While experiencing the entertaining suspense, we also learn about how people cope with death. When the ghosts first appear on the screen, they are frightening and graphic-looking.

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As we learn more about their intentions, however, we realize that there is no reason for Cole to be scared of these people. Philosophy professor Marguerite La Caze from the University of Queensland wrote a thought-provoking article on the movie titled, The Mourning of Loss in The Sixth Sense. She writes, "The ghosts of The Sixth Sense are victims of domestic violence, execution, and, in one case, Munchausen's syndrome by proxy. Others committed suicide or died by accident." In one scene, Cole encounters the ghost of a little girl foaming at the mouth. We later find out that her name is Kyra (Mischa Barton), and her mother killed her. Kyra wants Cole to show her father a video of her being poisoned by her mother, so he knows what really happened. The paranormal are startling at first, but we soon understand that they have feelings just like those who are living.

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The movie asks a simple yet somehow complex question: Why are we so afraid of the deceased? Why do we find them creepy? The film is bold and refreshing in the sense that it challenges us. It questions our common fear of the dead. La Caze mentions, "The psychological realism of The Sixth Sense makes it likely that we feel sorry for the dead people, and the overall effect is poignant rather than horrifying or terrifying." Rather than following the typical "they-are-evil-spirits" route, The Sixth Sense goes in the opposite direction. I guess you could say the film kind of laughs at us when we jump or feel scared. The movie already knows that the ghosts are not dangerous, and waits for us to catch up.

To aid the suspense element of Sense, a single shaky camera is often used. This effect gives the movie an uneasy, on-edge feeling. Also, the film feels more real, and less glamorized. After all, the last thing this movie aspires to be is glamorous. I also appreciate the dialogue Shyamalan writes. Can we really forget the famous line, "I see dead people"?

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Besides that, the conversations between Malcolm and Cole sound like genuine man-to-boy talks. Malcolm asks Cole, "Wanna play a game? It's a mind-reading game." After Malcolm explains the rules of the game, he asks, "Wanna play?" The informal tone of the dialogue sounds very close to how an adult in real-life would talk to a child. Also, the conversation in the car between Cole and his mother, Lynn (Toni Collette) is a beautifully done scene. We see the sentimental relationship between Lynn and her deceased mother.

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One scene that mildly annoys me is the scene with the woman in the kitchen who has cuts running down her arms. The way she violently shakes her arms seems more like a melodramatic theatrical performance than a frightening image. Overall, however, the movie doesn't really have any cheesy parts. Another weakness is a lack of elaboration. Even though we get a few, very brief glimpses into the past lives of the ghosts, it is still not very satisfying. In fact, many of the ghosts are only in the movie for a few seconds, like the boy with the gash in the back of his head, or the woman who got into a bicycle accident. The only ghost we sort of get to know is Kyra.

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The twist at the end reinforces the audience that their time has been well spent. It also provides a story that is definitely not the run-of-the-mill, predictable, scary ghost tale that you hear around the campfire. Sense provides a little bit of scary fun with a remarkably deep message. It is a popcorn flick that will also make you think.