#donnie is overworked and deserves rest

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HAAIIAII I leave this and float away into the abyss

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The Sixth Sense (1999); AFI #89

The next film we reviewed on the AFI list was the comparatively more recent The Sixth Sense (1999). This film is the classic M Night Shyamalan fairy tale/thriller/horror vehicle with a “changes everything” twist at the end. It is, in my humble opinion, the very best work of Shyamalan and the critics agree. The Sixth Sense was nominated for 6 Academy Awards including Best Picture, Best Writing, and Best Director. Shyamalan was the writer and director for this film, as he is for most of his movies, so he really put his stamp on the film. Let us look at the plot briefly (without spoiling the twist ending) and then discuss M Night films a little bit more and what makes this one stand out from the rest:

SPOILERS!! BUT NOT THE BIG ONE!!

The film opens on a couple, Malcolm Crowe (Bruce Willis) and wife Anna (Olivia Williams), who is celebrating the success of the husband winning an award for his psychology work with children. As the couple goes up to bed, they find that the apartment has been broken into and there is a former client of Malcolm’s in the bathroom (played by a very skinny Donnie Wahlberg). The patient accuses Malcolm of failing to help and then shoots Malcolm then kills himself.

The next fall, Malcolm is working with a new client named Cole Sear (Haley Joel Osment) who is having behavioral difficulties. Malcolm is having marital issues with his wife following the break-in and attack, so it becomes apparent that he thinks that he needs to help this kid to make up for the client he could not help and reconcile with his wife. Cole’s mother Lynn (Toni Collette) is supportive of her son but upset that he is having such difficulties since she is working two jobs and can’t deal with a problem child. 

Cole and Malcolm work together and, although Malcolm believes that Cole is having problems dealing with the absence of his father, there seems to be some sort of supernatural force affecting Cole. Eventually Cole reveals to Malcolm that he can see dead people and the ghosts are scaring him. Malcolm does not believe at first and considers dropping Cole as a client since his obsession with the case seems to be really stressing his marriage (they barely speak to each other), but he goes back and listens to tapes from the client he could not help and hears ghosts in the background of the audio. He then suggests that Cole listen to the ghosts and attempt to help.

Cole wakes up one night to find a vomiting girl ghost (a very young Mischa Barton) who he talks to and decides to help. He goes to the wake of the young girl and finds a tape in her room and shows it to the father of the girl, revealing who her killer was. This is the turning point and allows Cole to start fitting in at school and relating with he ghosts he sees instead of fearing them.

Malcolm feels that he has helped Cole as much as he can and he needs to focus on his marriage, so he has one last session with Cole and tells him to reveal his ability to see ghosts to his mother. Cole also makes a suggestion that Malcolm try and talk to his wife while she is asleep and maybe she will listen. The two go their separate ways. Cole reveals to his mother that he sees ghosts when they are in traffic waiting for an accident. To prove it, he tells his mother information about his grandmother that his mother has been wondering and fretting over. 

Malcolm goes home and talks to his wife and...twist ending. It is the last 5 minutes of the film and you should watch it for yourself. 

I am not a fan of the Shyamalan twist ending because I have never found them to be necessary. I base most of my enjoyment of his films on the story leading up to the twist. In fact, there is a pretty strong correlation between my enjoyment of an M Night Shyamalan movie and how far into the film the twist Is revealed. The twist makes it feel like a ghost story at camp to me, but it is his style and a signature piece of his movies.

I think what I like more than anything is the camera work to convey emotions. I have a Masters in Developmental Psych and I know from experience that it is very hard to talk with a scared child. Cole doesn’t reveal a lot about what he sees and the disturbing ghosts that he must encounter constantly would be terrifying and could have turned the film into a gory horrorfest. It is so much better than that. There are many points when Cole freezes and you know there is something terrifying, but only glimpses of ghosts are shown at most and you know that only the boy can see it. The whole film rides on the ability of Haley Joel Osment and his ability to convey “frozen in terror.” 

An extremely strong point of them film is when Malcolm tries to play a “I can read your mind” game with Cole. The idea is that Cole will take a step forward if Malcolm is correct and a step back if he is wrong. They are in office and Cole doesn’t want to have a session, so enough steps back will lead to the door and he will be allowed to leave. Enough step forwards will lead Cole to the chair and he will have to stay and participate. Malcolm does well at first and Cole is close to the chair, but then Malcolm starts making some poor assumptions and Cole starts stepping back. The genius of the camera work is that many of the steps are not focused on Cole or even his feet; instead the audience is given the viewpoint of Cole’s eyes and he is looking at Malcolm. You can tell that he is only taking small steps as Malcolm gets a little further away. The growing frustration on Malcolm’s face to the step back is also more apparent. It is a beautiful example of allowing the actors to emote and allowing the audience to identify with the characters. 

For me, the relationship with Cole and his mother is the most interesting part of the film. Toni Collette really sells the character of a mom that is overworked and trying to just survive while watching her son basically go insane (in her eyes). It is a great thing at the end when Cole is finally willing to reveal his ability to his mother and is able to bring her some peace. In my mind, this is could have been a good end to the movie, but the twist at the very end is surprising and does add something to the story.

In the past, I have made a lot of jokes at the expense of M Night Shyamalan and his style. He uses similar colors, he likes to act, there is always a twist, and the settings are a mix between real and fantasy. These fairy tales with a surprise are a hallmark of M Night Shyamalan, as is writing, directing, and often producing. Love him or hate him, he really owns his movies and puts his stamp on them every time. 

So does this film deserve to be on the AFI list? Absolutely. It is the best work of a great American director and tells a haunting ghost story with amazing characters, fantastic acting, and a twist ending. The movie is quotable, rewatchable, interesting, and well part of American culture. Quoting lines from this movie or trying to put the specific twist on other films inappropriately is a great meme, but full credit to the film as its epic story is never lost. Anything that can be both admired and held to ridicule simultaneously deserves to be on any list of great movies. Would I recommend it? Of course. Watch it twice. If it is the first time seeing it and the twist hasn’t been spoiled, you will probably want to. Great movie well worth watching.