90s Movie Review - The Sixth Sense

Director: M. Night Shyamalan
Genre: Drama/ Thriller
Runtime: 107 minutes
Year: 1999
Starring: Bruce Willis, Haley Joel Osment, Toni Collette, Olivia Williams, Misha Barton, Donnie Wahlberg, Trevor Morgan

Description: A boy (Haley Joel Osment) who communicates with spirits that don't know they're dead seeks the help of a disheartened child psychologist (Bruce Willis).

Review: You are as good as your last film. That’s something director M. Night Shyamalan experienced. His movie “The Sixth Sense” was never topped. With this movie, the paranormal thriller was given a new life. With this, Bruce Willis also profiled himself as a dramatic actor. Australian actress Toni Collette broke through and child star Haley Joel Osment left everybody breathless. “The Sixth Sense” is a lot more than just a good movie.
“I see dead people” is now a classic film quote. What Shyamalan does well is leave the viewers with a question in the beginning: whether Cole actually sees dead people or if it’s an hallucination. Child psychologist Malcolm Crowe is the only person that can help him. His career isn’t the same anymore, after former patient Vincent Grey who he couldn’t help, shoots him in his own house. Grey kills himself after that. Since then Crowe is trying to lose those feelings of guilt. He sees in Cole the same characteristics as once in Grey. Cole lives alone with his mother Lynn, who works hard to make it all work and doesn’t know what Cole’s secret is. The moment Cole tells his secret to Crowe is chilling every time.
“The Sixth Sense” is filmed pretty sober. Shyamalan fully trusts on his own writing, which is so strong. Not a lot happens in the first hour, but there is a constant threat and tension. Subtle though, with some equally subtle sound effects. The twist at the end is genius and makes a second viewing just as good. Things you didn’t notice before, you see during your second viewing. With most movies that have a twist, it’s not that fun to rewatch the film. “The Sixth Sense” makes that rewatch probably even better.
Bruce Willis is timid in his role, something we hadn’t seen from him before. Toni Collette is great as well. But the star of the film is Haley Joel Osment. So young, yet such a grown up performance. His role is so real, you believe and feel his fear. In my eyes it’s still the best child performance in a movie. He even got an Academy Award nomination for it.
“The Sixth Sense” is one of my favorite thrillers, that captivates me every time. Fantastic work by M. Night Shyamalan.

Rating: 5 / 5