the ultimate twist ending

Rating: 8/10 (6 January 2008)

This might be the spoiler to beat all spoilers- Dr. Malcolm Crowe (Bruce Willis), one of the two main characters in 'The Sixth Sense,' is actually dead through most of the movie and the audience doesn't know it. Thanks to an extremely clever and manipulative plot and a spectacularly successful twist ending, most people ended up going back to see 'The Sixth Sense' a second time, just to pick up all the 'clues' they missed the first time, and which are indeed there for anyone to see. The thing is, hardly anyone does. The movie was M. Night Shyamalan's breakthrough success, grossing over $600 million worldwide (all those second and third viewings helped big-time) and one wonders if it wasn't at least partially a fluke. With the exception of 'Signs,' none of his other films has been a success, either critically or at the box office. The approach that worked so well in 'Sixth Sense' does not appear to be readily transferable to other material. But 'Sixth Sense' is a certifiable masterpiece of horror and suspense. It benefits greatly from young Haley Joel Osment's totally believable performance as Cole Sear, the nine-year-old boy who "sees dead people." The state of anxiety and fear he lives in is transmitted to the audience beyond the point of feeling sympathy for him; we actually come to feel the emotions he feels. No one except Cole can see the dead, but Shyamalan does not resort to trickery or suggestion in this regard: the deceased are right out in the open for the audience to see. One might think this would be the film's fatal flaw. It is certainly audacious. At one point in 'Sixth Sense,' when Dr. Crowe asks Cole if there are any dead persons present, the boy says there are, and sure enough, in the background are three gruesomely made-up figures hanging from the rafters. Similarly, later on, when a cyclist is killed in an accident and Cole and his mother are stuck in traffic as a result, the dead cyclist is shown standing right outside their car, peering in the passenger window. Cole's expression seems to be one of "here we go again," and is almost grimly humorous. But it all works and somehow proves to be very frightening. This straightforward approach to things that are usually only hinted at or seen in fleeting glimpses (one might contrast this with the first 'Alien' film, where the creature is never fully seen till the very end) turns out to be quite refreshing and most effective. Bruce Willis underplays his character, which is essential for the ending to work. Throughout the film, we are led to believe that his marriage is at the end of its rope, and that his wife's refusal to speak to him or even acknowledge him is simply a manifestation of that fact. All of this is masterfully played out and when at the climax, we learn his wife has never answered him because he hasn't been there, it comes as a complete shock. If AFI ever does a list of '100 Greatest Surprise Endings,' 'The Sixth Sense' will surely top the list.