Distinguished child psychologist Malcolm Crowe is a man
haunted by the memory of a patient he failed to help. A year after the patient
committed suicide, Malcolm meets a new little boy with a similar condition,
Cole, and determines to do everything in his power to help him as a means of
redemption. Life changes for Malcolm as his marriage begins to disintegrate and
when Cole finally deigns to reveal his ‘secret’ to Malcolm, new fears are
realised, the biggest being that he might not be able to help Cole. How can you
help a child who sees dead people?
Famous for having one of the most shocking twists in cinematic history, The Sixth Sense is a chilling but truly
beautiful film that treads the fine line between drama, thriller, and horror. Whilst
the whole “I see dead people” thing has been drip-fed to the masses who haven’t
seen the film in other popular films and TV series, not to mention the twist is
given away entirely in 50 First Dates
for those who are interested, it’s still a film that has the power to both
shock and inspire tears. I knew what the twist was and, in truth, being armed
with this knowledge actually just heightens how clever the film is in terms of
both direction and writing. It’s really a clever film.
Distinguished child
psychologist Malcolm Crowe is a man haunted by the memory of a patient he
failed to help. A year after the patient committed suicide, Malcolm meets a new
little boy with a similar condition, Cole, and determines to do everything in
his power to help him as a means of redemption. Life changes for Malcolm as his
marriage begins to disintegrate and when Cole finally deigns to reveal his
‘secret’ to Malcolm, new fears are realised, the biggest being that he might
not be able to help Cole. How can you help a child who sees dead people?
Whilst
the horror of the supernatural is always waiting in the wings, the real power
of this movie lies within the various relationships that are explored. We have
the relationship between Malcolm and Cole, Malcolm’s own rocky relationship
with his wife Anna, and also Cole’s relationship with his protective,
supportive, but suitably struggling mother. Each of these parallel stories run
beautifully side by side with each other and have the same strength and
poignancy, bringing this great wealth of drama and breadth to the film.
The
writing is wonderful in that it’s a stylish and subtle case of plot
misdirection. However, what makes it all the more memorable is the fact that
certain hints are dropped to clue the audience into what might be going on. As a
result the audience knows more than the characters, but not by much as they are
still unsure of what these hints could mean.
Bruce Willis as Malcolm Crowe
delivers a lovely understated performance, almost falling into the realms of
supporting characters when in fact he is the protagonist and we go on the
journey with him.
The real star of the show is Haley Joel Osment who stars as
Cole. A cute, but still suitably awkward little boy, Haley delivers a
performance that stands toe-to-toe with Bruce’s and provides the film with much
of its drama and terror.
Starring Toni Collette, Olivia Williams, Trevor
Morgan, Donnie Wahlberg, Peter Anthony Tambakis, Jeffrey Zubernis, Bruce
Norris, Angelica Page, Glenn Fitzgerald, and Mischa Barton, The Sixth Sense is a wonderful movie
that’s cleverly filmed, wonderfully written and filled with drama, suspense,
horror, and happiness. It’s a truly lovely film!
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