The Sixth Sense (1999)
I see dead people.
THE SUMMARY: A child psychologist counsels a young boy who can see dead people who need help, but it turns out the child psychologist is a dead guy who needs help. While I enjoyed experiencing the twist completely unspoiled, it’s a very long, overacted windup for that payoff. At least a cyclist died horrifically.
NO MOVIE-PICKER COMMENTARY THIS WEEK: Sixth Sense is a random selection from the IMDb top-250 list after last week’s nominations were rejected by vote. It is currently ranked #144.
JAMIE AND JEANNE’S SHOW AI ART FOR THE WEEK:
The least intimidating people in trench coats of all time.
The makeup Blonde should have done for Halloween.
There’s nothing to be scared of with a dead cyclist.
THE BEST:
I got the twist completely unspoiled: It may seem impossible, so you may not believe me, but I had no prior knowledge of the movie’s twist that Malcolm is dead and himself seeking resolution with his wife in the way all the other dead people are trying to resolve a problem too. It’s an excellent twist not just because it’s a surprise, but because it explained many of the questions I had watching the movie up to that point.
Why would Cole’s psychologist never speak with his mom? Who hired him if they never talk? Why would Cole never tell his mom about his secret? Why was the opening scene with Malcolm getting shot so important - just because a prior client reminds him of Cole?
Most, though not all, of these seeming oddities are explained by Malcolm being dead. Malcolm doesn’t speak to Cole’s mom because he doesn’t speak to anybody living, except his wife, with whom he’s trying to restore communication. Cole doesn’t tell his mom because he doesn’t tell anybody living. The opening scene is crucial because, of course, that was Malcolm’s death.
A twist that totally reframes a movie in this way is rare. It’s not enough to earn automatic high Wickies for me, but it’s certainly worthy of respect and appreciation.
Some interesting themes about justice for the dead: The funeral scene with Cole delivering the video of the poisoned girl to her father was the most interesting to me, because it prompts questions about whether the dead have interest in justice on this Earth. That’s of course implied by the girl working through Cole to solve her murder, and later confirmed by Malcolm himself disappearing into light upon completion of his Earthly purpose with his wife.
It’s an interesting question about the afterlife, to the extent we accept one exists: do the dead care about resolving leftover injustice in their past life on Earth, or do they move on to a higher form of justice elsewhere? If there’s a heaven, or a Godly kingdom to get to, why would the dead care about sticking around to resolve things in an inherently imperfect world?
I say that like the decision to move on is so obvious, but I gotta admit - haunting some people who really deserve it would probably be pretty fun.
A gruesome cyclist death that was also unspoiled: I didn’t see that coming either - I expected a traffic death as in two cars crashing. I was pleasantly surprised to see cyclist justice. Very good. If only Cole told that ghost she got exactly what she deserved and laughed in her face.
Malcolm realizes he’s dead.
Cole helps solve a murder.
THE WORST:
Not everything about the twist makes sense: The twist is overall excellent in that it makes many things suddenly make sense, but there are a few details that don’t. Why isn’t Cole terrified of Malcolm, like he’s terrified of every other dead person? In their early interaction, why does Cole agree that he distrusts Malcolm because he’s a psychologist, when he has terror far beyond just distrust for every other ghost?
More crucially, why wouldn’t Cole tell Malcolm that he’s dead? Cole knows the dead don’t know they’re dead, as he describes, so why not give this helpful ghost some help himself? Likewise, why doesn’t Cole help Malcolm speak to his wife like he helped the poisoned girl speak to her father? Cole tells Malcolm to speak to her while she sleeps, sure, but he doesn’t directly help like he does for other ghosts.
And I know I wrote above that the question of why Cole doesn’t tell his mom his secret is explained by Cole telling no living person, but why does he hold that standard? Why doesn’t Cole tell his mom, actually? His mom gets enraged with what she thinks are his lies, and Cole doesn’t tell her his secret presumably for fear she won’t believe him. Except when he does tell her, he has solid proof he’s been holding the whole time that immediately convinces her. The core of Cole’s problem could have been solved by having that car conversation with his mom a long time ago.
And it’s less consequential, and while I think it’s interesting to evaluate Malcolm and his wife’s interactions with the new understanding that he’s dead, what widow goes to anniversary dinner at a restaurant alone? People grieve in all sorts of ways, I suppose, but that seems almost exhibitionist. Suffering and sorrow in a crowded public setting, by yourself? Why? If anybody knows anybody who does this, I’ll stand corrected and say it’s understandable. But I’ve never heard of it.
It’s often overacted and silly: Horror movies are tough to do well, because if they aren’t genuinely scary and creepy, they end up accidentally funny. Sixth Sense suffers from this effect frequently. Cole is constantly shivering, constantly gasping for air, constantly whispering in fear - since everything’s scary all the time, really nothing is, and it comes off overacted.
And it’s not just Cole - other characters get silly too. The teacher who overacts and Cole’s overacting, for example, smashing his fist on Cole’s desk and shouting ‘you FREAK!’ Dohkay. It’s completely bizarre behavior, but it’s cool though - they’re friends again later, and Cole has plenty more very specific and detailed knowledge about the history of the building that an otherwise curious teacher has no interest in learning about, for some reason.
The juice isn’t obviously worth the squeeze: As much as I appreciate the twist, it’s a lot of boring silliness to get there, and I’m not convinced the twist is enough to make the 90 minutes of mediocrity before it obviously worthwhile. My experience with this movie can be summarized: ‘wow, I thought this movie sucked, but then that twist hit to explain why it sucked.’ It’s nice to know, but it doesn’t make me suddenly entertained by everything beforehand.
Hard to take seriously.
THE RATING: 3/5 Wickies. Is it a ‘classic?’ Sure. Is it unique? Yeah. Should you watch it? For its cultural relevance and influence, yes. But was I entertained and lost in thought about it? No. Maybe I’d enjoy it more watching it again with the understanding that Malcolm is dead, but I’m not eager or enthused to do that.
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NEXT WEEK: The Long Kiss Goodnight (1996)
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