The Sixth Sense
Short description
Malcolm Crowe is a child psychologist whose life is upended by a violent encounter with a former patient he was unable to help. A year later, he takes on the case of Cole Sear, a withdrawn nine-year-old boy who is shunned by classmates and teachers alike. Cole is tormented by something he cannot explain and confides in no one until Malcolm gradually earns his trust. The boy eventually reveals the source of his terror, and Malcolm struggles to understand what the child is experiencing, a task that strains his marriage to his wife, Anna.
M. Night Shyamalan directed and wrote the film, the first of 15 features he has directed and the one that preceded Unbreakable. Bruce Willis plays Malcolm, Haley Joel Osment plays Cole, and Toni Collette appears as the boy's mother, Lynn. Donnie Wahlberg plays the former patient Vincent Gray, with Olivia Williams as Anna. Produced by Kathleen Kennedy, Frank Marshall and Barry Mendel, the film was made for about 40 million dollars and returned roughly 673 million dollars worldwide.
The film holds an 8.2 rating on IMDb from around 1.1 million votes and an 8 on TMDB from more than 13,000 votes. A critics' rating of 8 out of 10 across 167 reviews places it alongside the strongest audience responses to the film.
What's left behind the scenes
- Many directors shoot the ending of their films at the very beginning of the filmmaking process; however, Shyamalan shot his thriller in strict sequence, meaning the final scene was filmed at the very end of production.
- Liam Aiken was considered for the role of Cole.
- In the film, Bruce Willis's character writes with his right hand. In real life, Bruce is left-handed. He specifically learned to write with his right hand for the film so that the audience wouldn't notice the absence of a wedding ring on his left hand.
- According to M. Night Shyamalan, the idea for the film came to him after he watched episode #3.10 "The Tale of the Dream Girl" from the series "Are You Afraid of the Dark?" (1991-1996).
- Haley Joel Osment was the only candidate for the role of Cole who came to the audition wearing a tie. When Shyamalan asked the boy if he had read his part of the script, Haley replied that he had read the script three times the day before. Surprised, Night repeated: “You read your part of the script three times?”, to which the boy replied: “No, I read the entire script three times.”
- In 2000, the film became the most popular among home video enthusiasts (approximately 80 million viewers).
- According to M. Night Shyamalan, Donnie Wahlberg lost 43 pounds specifically for his role.
- Many similarities can be found in two films featuring Bruce Willis – "The Sixth Sense" (1999) and "12 Monkeys" (1995). Firstly, the main character in both films is named Cole. In "12 Monkeys," Bruce's character says, "Everyone I see is actually dead." A similar phrase is uttered by Haley Joel Osment's character in "The Sixth Sense." And finally, both films have a number in their title, and the action takes place in Philadelphia.
- Director M. Night Shyamalan played one of the roles in the film. He played the doctor to whom Toni Collette's character brought Cole after the incident at the birthday party.
- According to the "American Film Institute," Cole's phrase "I see dead people" ranked 44th on the list of "100 Greatest Movie Quotes of All Time."
- The voice on the audio cassette that Malcolm hears speaks in Spanish: "God, I don't want to die, save me, save me."
- The film was released in American theaters on M. Night Shyamalan's birthday.
- In one scene of the film "Ocean's Twelve" (2004), where Bruce Willis plays himself, there's a lengthy comedic argument about the predictability of the film's plot.
- M. Night Shyamalan considers his film a kind of symbiosis of "The Exorcist" (1973) and "Ordinary People" (1980).
Similar movies
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