Film Review: The Sixth Sense

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M. Night Shyamalan's 1999 Horror/Thriller The Sixth Sense is an intensely chilling tale, that approaches horror in a remarkably special way thanks to the adroit artistry behind the screenplay. Bruce Willis stars in this film as child psychiatrist Dr. Malcolm Crowe, who feels strongly inclined to take on the challenge of helping Cole Sear (Haley Joel Osment) overcome his personal issues that tackle him everyday. Malcolm is drawn to assisting the young boy after a previous patient of his in the past felt failed and came back to attack and shoot Malcolm in his own house years later, which is seen at the very start of the film. For Malcolm, he very much needs to fulfill this task, to redeem himself for not being able to prevent his previous patient (who is also very similar to Cole) from heading down a dark and wrong path before. 

After the film's unexpected and violent start featuring Bruce Willis getting shot almost straight away, (after the audience get to witness the supportive and seemingly loving relationship shared between him and his wife) time is skipped, which leaves his fate pending, until he is then revealed to be alive and well, doing his job again. Although this section of the timeline is unfamiliar to the viewers, learning that Malcolm is still around supplies supportive closure to them, as it lets them know almost immediately that he pulled through and saves them the stressful process of having to try and figure out if he had survived or not. Despite not leaving us so painfully early on in the film, there is an emotionally distant atmosphere between Malcolm and his wife, which is the opposite to how their relationship is represented at the start of the film. This opens up the possibilities of a failing marriage or broken bond between the two, that occurred over the blanked out period of time in the film. Even though Malcolm's wife appears extremely distant to him, filling this hole of social connectivity is the newly introduced character, Cole. Malcolm might initially have difficulty getting Cole to engage and open up to him, but as the film goes on they both make progress and build up a trusting bond. 

Figure. 1. The Sixth Sense film poster.
The Sixth Sense is filled with mystery and loneliness, which pushes the mood of the film into discomfort and makes the audience well aware of this eeriness that lurks around each and every corner. It doesn't help the audience feel any better, by having both of the main characters being either self preserved or secretive, it makes this film more than just a Horror or Thriller film. With Cole just being a very young boy feeling like he is different to everyone else, he hides his feelings away and struggles to communicate with his mother over it. Meanwhile, Malcolm is seen endlessly shut out of his wife's life, being ignored and left to handle things on his own. It is hard not to feel bad for both of these characters, as well as being able to relate to them in some kind of personal way. So at times in this film you may feel nervous, scared or freaked out, but above all you will feel sadness. Even the film's title immediately causes curiosity to be raised. So what exactly is "the sixth sense"? Well it is likely going to some special gift that someone has been blessed with, or in this case, cursed with. Of course, when watching the film you will soon find out what this sense is that Cole possesses, but once it is revealed the aftermath of it lingers throughout the rest of the film, setting up a whole new and darker atmosphere for the viewers to be drawn into.

Figure. 2. The Sixth Sense film still.
Cole eventually opens up to Malcolm and tells him how he can see dead people all of the time, who walk around like normal and torment him. From this point on, a cold and unsafe tone begins to take control over the film and it escalates restlessly. Cole's unknown and privately distant personality soon starts to unravel, not only as Malcolm manages to engage with him and have Cole share more personal information, but also because a slightly broader level of understanding can be met by the viewers, once being aware of the horrors that he is constantly haunted by. After this part of the film, the camera now starts to show dead people lurking around Cole. Not only does this strengthen up the level of horror to the audience, but it is clever of Shyamalan to make the decision for the audience to now see the dead people, for it treats the audience as if they're a stranger to Cole, just getting to know him and being allowed into his lost head. As well as the effectively executed camera work in the film, this is another part of "The Sixth Sense" that drives the relationship between the screen and Cole's mental representation. In scenes where Cole is talking to his mother or Malcolm, there are distances that grow further between Cole and the camera, to suggest that the level of closeness and understanding between characters is being pushed further and further away, which ultimately suffuses the general atmosphere with an inevitable sadness. The screen helps deliver the fact that Cole is a lonely and quiet boy, who cannot open up to anyone about his secret, so when the camera subtly suggests that progress is being made, it soon distances itself again, crushing any hope that the viewer might momentarily be feeling. Luckily, Malcolm earns Cole's trust and an insight on his mind becomes clear to us all, unfortunately now this mysteriously creepy thriller becomes significantly more terrifying and unsafe.

One of the things this film does is gives the audience a greater understanding as it goes on, so throughout the whole duration you learn more and more about what is going on and why. After a few scares from seeing the unnerving corpses that welcome themselves onto the screen, Malcolm teaches Cole that they are only there because they want something, not because they are trying to cause him harm. Cole must face his fears, embrace them fully and go out of his way to finish off unfinished requests of the dead people, so that they can finally rest in piece. For example, one girl that he encounters, was murdered by poison and needs her dad to witness a tape that proves what happened. Once fulfilled, she leaves Cole alone. So once again, more of an understanding is made by the audience. This time, it is more of a fairly positive one as it is now obvious that the dead people are in fact victims, not the monsters that they firstly appear to resemble. The film manages to keep moving at a constant pace of teaching, continuously educating the audience in more secrets and facts from the story. So it is at this point in the film, where the viewers learn what the dead people want and why they're visiting Cole. It is because they need something from him, they need him to do them one final favour before they can rest. With that being said, it is the third act in this film that once again shocks even more intensely and is the climax point for not only a full understanding, but emotions too.

From the beginning, nothing quite makes full sense and there is a cold presence that doesn't quite seem right as it lurks throughout. The heavy build up to the phenomenal third act, is probably the reason why the final reveal of the truth is so extremely chilling and emotional to endure. "Then there's the ending, which pays off with one of those revelations that make you mentally unpick everything you've seen." (Newman, 2015) If you've watched the film up to this point, you will very clearly notice what appears to be the "broken marriage" between Malcolm and his wife. After she completely ignores him at dinner and is seen with another man, it naturally triggers a dislike in her character. What has Malcolm done wrong? What did the time skipping at the beginning of the film make us miss? Why has their odd and sudden relationship been so mysterious for the whole film? Well, it isn't until after Malcolm helps Cole face his demons and put them to rest, that he goes home to his wife. He walks into the room and sees her sleeping, as she talks to him in her sleep, while their wedding video is playing on the TV in the background. She says his name aloud and then mentions how he has left her, while dropping his wedding ring on the floor. It is at this shocking moment, where Malcolm (and the audience) realises that she isn't ignoring him and being the stubborn wife that we've grown to dislike... Instead, she is the heartbroken and innocent widow. Malcolm was dead this whole time, while not even knowing it. It goes back to what Cole said, about how sometimes these dead people don't even know they're dead. This breathtaking twist is strikingly powerful, as it has the power to send multiple different emotions at you all at once. Not only do we now sympathize massively for Malcolm's lonely wife, but we also are forced to feel an overwhelmingly level of sadness as Malcolm has just learned this too. It is at this point in the film that any horror or fear is forgotten, and now sadness and emptiness is all there is left to be felt. Malcolm notices the wound from his abdomen, bleeding underneath through the multiple layers that covers up the blood through the entire film. Everything starts to make sense, why his wife wouldn't even look at him, why she wouldn't speak to him, why no person other than Cole interacts or acknowledges him. He isn't there, and the film uses the screenplay so cleverly that this all happens under our noses. This emotional reveal will leave a mark on you and the way you look at the entire film, even once you've finished watching. "Indeed, it drew countless back to the cinema for reappraisal, just to see how they were hoodwinked so easily. The real trick, however, was to deliver such an emotionally complex story in the guise of a horror movie. In fact, nothing in the film was ever what you expected." (Nathan, 2015) 

Figure. 3. The Sixth Sense film still.
It is incredible how watching the film the first time, will be the one and only time that you experience that way. The first time you watch, you have no idea about the truth and are blind to the reasons and tricks on screen. "Watching it a second time is like seeing a different film. There's a poignancy to everything that creates a totally different mood." (Deeble, 2016) The second time that you watch The Sixth Sense, your experience is bound to be a very different one. With that being said, it is very likely you may enjoy it ever more the second time round, which is far more that can be said about most other movies out there. Watching it again, with all the knowledge, makes you feel the sadness throughout the whole film as there's no surprises or twists to be hit by. This time round, you are watching the film for what it is, with the truth presented directly in front of you, making you question how you didn't see all of this the first time round. Once again, in the final moments of the film at Malcolm's discovery, you may feel even sadder than the first time round. This time you've known all along, but Malcolm hasn't. You have to sit there and watch him and his wife struggle, but this time you know why. That scene will have a critical effect emotionally no matter how many times it is witnessed, but that is all due to the magic that is Shyamalan's genius screenplay. With thought put into every character's actions, eye movements, positions and dialogue, it can trick anybody. With the twist technically revealed at the beginning, showing Malcolm's death, it is what makes the twist hit so much harder, which truly is the reward that gives back to Shyamalan for mastering the screenplay. The Sixth Sense is one of those rare films, that can't get old or easily copied, due to its complex roots. It is subtle enough to trick anybody the first time watching, but strong enough to trigger emotions even during their tenth time watching.

Illustrations List.
Figure. 1. Filmyzilla, The Sixth Sense film poster. http://filmyzilla.com/download/500/the-sixth-sense.html (Accessed 23/04/18) 
Figure. 3. Bridgman A, The Sixth Sense film still. http://www.collegehumor.com/post/5105659/the-sixth-sense-and-sensibility (Accessed 23/04/18) 

Bibliography.
Newman K. (2015) https://www.empireonline.com/movies/sixth-sense/review/ (Accessed 23/04/18)

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