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The Sixth Sense

The Sixth Sense (1999)

tomatometer

85

Average Rating: 7.4/10
Reviews Counted: 134
Fresh: 114 | Rotten: 20

M Night Shayamalan's The Sixth Sense is a twisty ghost story with all the style of a classical Hollywood picture, but all the chills of a modern horror flick.

79

Average Rating: 6.9/10
Critic Reviews: 34
Fresh: 27 | Rotten: 7

M Night Shayamalan's The Sixth Sense is a twisty ghost story with all the style of a classical Hollywood picture, but all the chills of a modern horror flick.

audience

87

liked it
Average Rating: 3.8/5
User Ratings: 950,316

My Rating

Movie Info

In this tense tale of psychological terror, Dr. Malcolm Crowe (Bruce Willis) is a child psychologist whose new patient has a problem far outside his usual area of expertise. Cole Sear (Haley Joel Osment) is six-years-old and claims to see the spirits of dead people all around him. It seems that Cole has psychic powers and can channel the ghosts of those who were troubled. Cole doesn't understand his powers, and he has little control over them; he's constantly terrified by what he sees, and Dr.

PG-13,

Mystery & Suspense

M. Night Shyamalan

Mar 28, 2000

Hollywood/Buena Vista - Official Site External Icon

Cast

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All Critics (134) | Top Critics (34) | Fresh (120) | Rotten (21) | DVD (41)

A delicate, emotionally attentive, but very scary ghost story.

October 10, 2012 Full Review Source: New Yorker
New Yorker
Top Critic IconTop Critic

I was not only surprised by the film's final twist, I wasn't even looking for one. I just thought I was watching a bad movie. The end doesn't quite redeem it, but it makes you think about what you've seen. That's a saving grace of some sort.

October 10, 2012 Full Review Source: New York Daily News | Comment (1)
New York Daily News
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Shyamalan's script is a clever construct, but also contains a great deal of sensitivity to the plight of the "different" child.

October 10, 2012 Full Review Source: Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
Top Critic IconTop Critic

M. Night Shyamalan neutralizes Willis's star presence with impressive plotting that's a fine excuse for the powerful atmosphere.

June 26, 2007 Full Review Source: Chicago Reader
Chicago Reader
Top Critic IconTop Critic

An effectively understated and moodily engrossing ghost film with a surprisingly satisfying jolt at the end.

April 27, 2007 Full Review Source: New York Observer
New York Observer
Top Critic IconTop Critic

A poignant study of the searing pain caused by loss, this all-too-human horror film provokes tears as well as fears.

February 9, 2006 Full Review Source: Time Out
Time Out
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Like Kieslowski and others, Shyamalan knows that what makes for lousy metaphysics can make for powerful metaphor, and in the end he creates a deeply, surprisingly affecting film out of a little bit of smoke and brimstone.

October 10, 2012 Full Review Source: AV Club
AV Club

Like The Exorcist, this isn't really a gore-spattered shocker, more a slow-burning, subconscious-botherer.

October 10, 2012 Full Review Source: Total Film
Total Film

Osment is excellent, as is Bruce Willis, as a melancholy child psychologist scarred by his failure with a similarly haunted youth, and Toni Collette, as the boy's fiercely loyal mother.

October 10, 2012 Full Review Source: Sacramento News & Review
Sacramento News & Review

Constantly on the brink of explanation, The Sixth Sense in fact derives most of its fascination from explaining next to nothing.

June 18, 2012 Full Review Source: Sight and Sound
Sight and Sound

Great, but sometimes scarier than R-rated horror.

December 29, 2010 Full Review Source: Common Sense Media
Common Sense Media

An excellent premiere for new director M. Night Shyamalan as he packs a punch with a great story, excellent directing, a great cast, great performances, and a surprise ending that will leave you breathless for days on end.

April 29, 2009 Full Review Source: Cinema Crazed
Cinema Crazed

Classy, creepy and cunnningly constructed, Shyamalan's film offers melacholy pleasures and some genuinely effective scares. A quality Hollywood offering and a massive hit.

October 15, 2008 Full Review Source: Film4
Film4

Osment's performance is positively chilling, more marvelous and accomplished every time you watch this film.

October 9, 2008 Full Review Source: Movie Metropolis
Movie Metropolis

This film proved that a supernatural spook show, combined with solid drama, could appeal to a broad, mainstream audience, without downplaying the horror.

July 7, 2008 Full Review Source: ESplatter
ESplatter

A low-key triumph of mood and menace.

October 31, 2007 Full Review Source: eFilmCritic.com
eFilmCritic.com

Mr. Willis gives a surprisingly quiet performance.

July 14, 2007 Full Review Source: Big Picture Big Sound
Big Picture Big Sound

The screenplay, with its terrific scares and its amazing double-whammy at the end, is a grand achievement.

May 26, 2006 Full Review Source: Combustible Celluloid
Combustible Celluloid

Intelligence and substance in a summer horror flick? Who'd of thought it.

April 9, 2005 Full Review Source: Reeling Reviews
Reeling Reviews

Audience Reviews for The Sixth Sense

No matter how much M. Night Shyamalan continues to go downhill, this will continue to hold up as a great film.

Influenced by an old episode of the show "Are You Afraid of the Dark?", this is an engrossing psychological thriller about a troubled child psychologist named Dr. Malcolm Crowe who begins to treat a gifted boy named Cole who confesses he has the ability to see the dead.

Both Dr. Crowe and Cole are troubled, and share a sense of alienation, and while Crowe should be the one helping Cole, it seems that there could be a turning of the tables, with Cole being the one helping Dr. Crowe put his own demons to rest.

Twist endings were nothing new when this film came out, but it seemingly resurrected the trend (for better or worse). Heck, the trend has continued through most of the rest of Shyamalan's own work since then. It is a good twist, and it works, but I like this film regardless of the twist. I mostly just like how well the twist works, and the point that it gives the film, making you realize it's really about something other than you initially think it is.

In general, this is just an extremely well crafted film. Everything is very deliberate, thought out, and expertly set up and executed. This is some great writing and direction, and it's all highlighted by some excellent and evocative cinematography and camera work.

At the core of the film though, and what really holds it all together are the two central performances from Bruce Willis and Haley Joel Osment,. Willis proved he can really excel at serious drama, and was even awarded an Oscar nod for his efforts. He's great ,but actually manages to get practically outshined by Osment. Most child actors are so-so at best, but this kid knocks it out of the park here, and it's a shame he's pretty well fallen into obscurity. These two have great chemistry with one another, and you really get drawn into their world and want to see them get through their situations. The other performers are also good, but mostly overshadowed by these two, A big exception would have to be the brief but memorable appearance of Donnie Wahlberg as a former patient of Dr. Crowe's. It's chillingly effective.

Actually, 'chillingly effective' is a great way to sum of the whole film. It's moody, atmospheric, eerie, and unforgettable, largely because of the things I've already mentioned, but also because of the terrific score as well.

This film gets talked about a lot, and I doubt any of what I've said are new contributions, but trust this film's reputation as great and go see it if you, for some reason, haven't already.
June 9, 2006
cosmo313
Chris Weber

Super Reviewer

M.Night Shyamalan who later in his career turned out to be one of the most gifted auteurs of American cinema was still finding his voice with The Sixth Sense. Many of his typical trademarks are evident here and in many ways The Sixth Sense was the film that started Shyamalan's career. It is not his first film but it is the first film in his career that was a big hit.
Much has been also said of this film's surprise ending and i must admit that it truly is a brilliant as a twist. There are also few genuinely effective shocks along the ride, but when compared to his filmography, films like Signs or The Village, this is a far cry from them.
Technically The Sixth Sense is assured work, but for me it has always felt a bit cold from it's heart. It is a ghost story that leaves an oddly bland aftertaste and in a story that should have bigger impact emotionally, it is a huge flaw. It actually feels as if Shyamalan is trying a bit too hard here.
Overall it mixes art with entertainment like all of Shyamalan's films do, but here the effect feels much lesser than in his other films.
August 6, 2010
emilkakko

Super Reviewer

    1. Cole Sear: I see dead people.
    – Submitted by Dutch E (2 months ago)
    1. Cole Sear: I see dead people.
    – Submitted by Jay M (13 months ago)
    1. Cole Sear: She wanted me to tell you...
    2. Lynn Sear: Cole, please stop...
    3. Cole Sear: She wanted me to tell you she saw you dance. She said, when you were little, you and her had a fight, right before your dance recital. You thought she didn't come see you dance. She did. She hid in the back so you wouldn't see. She said you were like an angel. She said you came to the place where they buried her. Asked her a question? She said the answer is... 'Every day.' What did you ask?
    4. Lynn Sear: Do... Do I make her proud?
    – Submitted by Rocky F (14 months ago)
    1. Cole Sear: I'm ready to tell you my secret now.
    2. Dr. Malcolm Crowe: Okay.
    3. Cole Sear: Come closer.
    4. Cole Sear: I see dead people. They don't know they're dead.
    5. Dr. Malcolm Crowe: Where are they?
    6. Cole Sear: Everywhere.
    – Submitted by Gabe Z (15 months ago)
    1. Cole Sear: Stuttering Stanley!
    2. Stanley Cunningham: Excuse me.
    3. Cole Sear: You talk funny when you went to school and you talk funny all the way to high school!
    4. Cole Sear: [repeating] Stuttering Stanley! Stuttering Stanley! Stanley!
    5. Stanley Cunningham: [shouting] Shut up you freak!
    – Submitted by Baurushan J (19 months ago)
    1. Dr. Malcolm Crowe: You like magic? [sitting down facing Cole] Look here's a penny. I'm going to make this penny disappear. I give this a little wave and [clap] it's in my right hand. But that's not the end of the magic trick. I give this a little shake and [tap on inside pocket] it's in my pocket. But that's not the end of the magic trick. I give this a little shake and [clap] it's back where it started.
    – Submitted by Baurushan J (19 months ago)

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Foreign Titles

  • Sixième Sens (FR)
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