The Sixth Sense film review:

The film that shocked me the most!

Creepy hallways and strange, unusual odd “people”… A young brave star named Haley Joel
Osment's amazing performance in the movie, The Sixth Sense.

The Sixth Sense is a film that was released in 1999, and goes
under the category of thriller/horror.
The film was written and directed by M. Night Shyamalan and it
is a psychological supernatural thriller film that had me not only
on the edge of my seat, but throughout the film reaps a fine
harvest of chills down my spine.
The film includes a bunch of hidden details and aspects which
really engage the audience and shock them.

It stars Bruce Willis as a child psychologist who works with

patients and studies their mind and behaviours. However, Bruce Willis who plays Dr. Malcolm has a
special patient and the film is centred around this patient , Cole
Sear. A 9 year old isolated boy who can not only see, but talk to
the dead. Dr. Malcolm, who is also troubled, tries to help Cole
and comfort him.
The director of this film, M. Night Shyamalan is known for his
fondness for surprise endings and detailed films.

The film starts off with Dr. Malcolm and his wife Anna.
The couple are celebrating the award Dr. Malcolm had gotten
from the town for his work and he was being recognised as a
good person. Then Anna looks down on the floor to see a
broken telephone and shards of glass next to a broken window.

The couple experience a home invasion from an ex-patient who is yelling and screaming things at the
Doctor.
The ex patient was someone that Dr. Malcolm had treated in the past, however he had given up and
made mistakes, he inhabited some of the problems that Cole faced. The patient shoots Dr. Malcolm
in anger for leaving him and not helping him all those years ago and not helping him like Malcolm
promised he would.

The film cuts to “The next fall”, and this is where we see Cole for the first time. As Cole has some of
the problems the ex patient faced, Dr. Malcolm wants to help him so the same thing wouldn't
happen again, and maybe this time he can get it right.

Cole Sear, a young 9 year old boy, who has the ability to see and engage with the dead have morbid
flashbacks.
Cole tries to keep this terrifying secret away from his single mom Collette, embarrassed and
ashamed, he does not want her to look at him as everyone else does, as a “freak”.
Cole slowly builds up the courage to tell Malcolm about the
ghoulish, grotesque secret of being able to see the dead. The
ghosts leave scratches and bruises on Cole's body which
raises questions with the authorities and they suspect his
mother is causing harm to Cole, which isn't the case at all.

They soon find out the real issue that has been causing harm to Cole which is more supernatural..

The film is so well done in the sense that it really builds up tense scenes, I think this because the
music and loud suspenseful sound effects all create a scary picture, and the audience also gets
caught off with the twists and turns that are in the film such as the HUGE twist at the end of the
film… It really is fantastic, everything from the cinematography, the characters themselves and the
actors who did an AMAZING job.

Bruce Willis plays Dr. Malcolm often finds himself in fantasy and science fiction films and this film
was quite a change for him, however he delivered! His role in the film was absolutely amazing and
different from what he has done in the past.

There are several techniques used in the film to portray

a certain feeling such as horror.
Certain cinematography techniques were used to create
a dark, ominous scene, such as over the shoulder shots
that show shadows or people over a person's shoulder
creating suspense, since we do not know who or what is
behind him. This makes us question who we are looking
at. There are also closeups of
Cole's face in certains scenes
like the image on the left of Cole's face and this signifies the expression on
his face, he looks terrified as he clutches onto his blanket and looks
directly into the camera, scared. This all helps to create a suspenseful
picture. This makes the audience feel terrified for the boy since we fear for
him, afterall it is not normal to see what he sees…

There are two shots of Cole and Dr. Malcolm to portray their relationship
and it signifies their bond.
They also use a range of sound techniques such as using diegetic and
nondiegetic sounds. Examples of diegetic sounds that were used were like the screams and bangings
of Cole in the scene where he had got locked up by the boys. The loud banging and screaming are
examples of diegetic sounds. Whereas non diegetic sounds would just be any narrator or music being
played.
Mise en scene plays a huge role in this film with building suspense and character.
Things such as low lighting, scary, tense music, loud sounds and costumes or fake blood all help to
create a terrifying image. In The Sixth Sense they used bodies of dead people, and in one scene they
are hanging from the ceiling dripping with fake blood.
Another example is when there is a woman with burns on
one side of her body, we do not know she is injured till
she turns quickly and shocks us with her face. The mise en
scene also creates a scary picture such as the gorey
makeup that has been used on the characters in the film.

There are over the shoulder shots that reveal dark

shadows and people behind Haley Joel Osment.
The shots create a dark,
suspenseful scene and actually made me feel scared, since I felt like
he was in danger. This also makes the audience alerted and makes
us feel for the boy and that he is in danger. It makes us frightened
about what may happen in the film.

Haley Joel Osment gave a frightening, and spine chilling

performance for a young actor and the most lines to learn, he
actually had to act, not like a cute idle kid, he needed to be involved
in the scenes and help to create such a horrifying image, he did this extremely well and gave us a
spine chilling performance! Osment had extremely good acting skills and the ability to listen, which
for kids his age, is hard. Not every adult actor can play emotionally heavy and dramatic scenes, this
just expresses how much of a good of a job Osment did at playing Cole.
Cole Sears uses many alarming quotes and phrases throughout the film however this one stuck with
me the most.

"I see dead people. They want me to do things for them."

The way that he delivers it made me feel so anxious and nervous.
Truly amazing.
I have to confess I was completely startled by the ending since I just
did not see it coming. It was amazing and I genuinely enjoyed it so
much. There are so many little hints and details throughout the film
too, which is just one of the many reasons why I think people should
watch this film.

I give this film a 5/5 rating because all of the characters were just on
top of their game, it had the most brilliant and suspenseful ending,
it's a perfect puzzle however everything is so well explained at the
same time. It is a must watch masterpiece and in my opinion arguably one of the best horror/thriller
films with a great plot like no other. I recommend people to watch this film and if you do, do not spoil
it for others!