10 Harsh Realties Of Rewatching The Sixth Sense, 25 Years Later

Summary

The Sixth Sense’s twist is now too famous, making it hard to experience the film without spoilers.
Rewatching The Sixth Sense reveals plot conveniences and ghost rule inconsistencies.
The movie struggles to define its main character and has an underdeveloped secondary character, Anna.

The Sixth Sense has just turned 25 years old, and while the M. Night Shyamalan film is still great, the movie does have some problems that weren’t as apparent when the movie first released in 1999. The legacy of The Sixth Sense is enormous, with it launching the careers of director M. Night Shyamalan and actor Haley Joel Osment while also introducing the world to one of the best twist endings of all time. The Sixth Sense has remained in the pop culture ethos for two and a half decades now, although many haven’t fully realized these 10 harsh realities.

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The Sixth Sense follows Bruce Willis’ Malcolm Crowe, a child psychologist who becomes invested in the case of Haley Joel Osment’s Cole Sear, a young boy who claims that he is able to see dead people. While most of the film centers around Crowe trying to uncover the truth about the boy’s condition, The Sixth Sense famously ends with a twist that reveals that Malcolm has been dead the whole time. This mind-blowing twist completely changes how viewers see the movie, but on a rewatch some issues become far more apparent than they originally were.

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10 The Sixth Sense’s Twist Is Too Famous For Its Own Good

It Becomes Hard To Take Seriously

While The Sixth Sense‘s twist blew the minds of audiences when the film was first released in 1999, the ending has made its way into common knowledge, with it now being too famous for its own good. Many viewers who didn’t get the chance to watch The Sixth Sense until years after it came out already had the twist ending spoiled for them, as it is so well-known now that it is nearly impossible to go into the film blind.

The ending of The Sixth Sense has been parodied and homaged in all kinds of different forms, which is one of the reasons that it is so hard to avoid spoilers. On top of that, viewers that did see the ending as intended may not enjoy the film as much on a rewatch, as the constant jokes about The Sixth Sense may make the film seem a little sillier on a rewatch.

9 Rewatching The Sixth Sense Takes Away From What Shyamalan Wants Viewers To Feel

It’s Hard Not To Think About Malcolm Being Dead

There is a lot to appreciate when watching The Sixth Sense for a second time, as it allows viewers to see the film’s story through the lens of already knowing that Malcolm Crowe is dead. This means that viewers can fully appreciate the care that Shyamalan and the rest of The Sixth Sense team put into making sure that the twist worked, as it becomes obvious that he is dead in many of the scenes after learning about the twist ending.

However, when rewatching The Sixth Sense, it is almost impossible not to think about the fact that Bruce Willis’ character is dead. It becomes difficult to be sad that Malcolm’s wife is giving him the silent treatment, or to wonder if Cole’s mother is actually abusing him. Instead, viewers see right through these story beats on a rewatch, meaning that the emotional experience of The Sixth Sense‘s story up until the twist is weaker.

8 The Story Relies On A Lot Of Conveniences

But You Only Notice On A Rewatch

Although it isn’t apparent on a first watch, it becomes clear on a rewatch that the story of The Sixth Sense relies on a lot of conveniences. A lot of scenes center around Malcolm and Cole talking, and if Malcolm tried to talk to any other character or if any other character heard Cole talking to Malcolm, Malcolm would immediately know that something was up. Conveniently, Cole’s mom is always in the other room when Malcolm is speaking to her son, something that is a requirement for this story to actually work.

The Sixth Sense also heavily relies on Malcolm assuming that his wife is giving him the silent treatment, something that would be a stretch in real life. Only a handful of scenes are shown between them in the film, but since The Sixth Sense contains a lot of scenes of Malcolm at his house, it would be weird for them to have not had more interactions off-screen. Malcolm realistically would have tried to talk to her more, and eventually, he should have realized that there was a problem.

7 The Sixth Sense’s Ghost Rules Have Some Problems

Some Don’t Make Sense

The rules of how the ghosts work in The Sixth Sense are a little shaky, with there being some problems regarding how they work. When Malcolm finds out that he is dead, he suddenly notices the blood on the back of his shirt, implying that the ghosts don’t know about their injuries. This could explain why ghosts like the acting instructor don’t comment on their injuries. However, the woman in the kitchen with the cuts on her wrist is aware of these injuries, specifically calling them out, raising the question of how she knows about her method of death.

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On top of that, Malcolm’s story implies that dead people simply believe that they survived their deaths, with Malcolm believing that he survived the shot and continued living his life. However, The Sixth Sense also features three ghosts who are hanging in a school, but if ghosts are supposed to believe that they survived, it wouldn’t make sense that they are still hanging. This scene also raises the question of if they can see each other, as Malcolm isn’t able to see other ghosts throughout the film.

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6 The “Ghosts See What They Want” Rule Feels Too Easy

It Is Too Convenient

M. Night Shyamalan added in a simple explanation that allows any plot hole in The Sixth Sense to be hand-waved away, although it does feel a bit cheap. In the movie, Cole explains that ghosts are able to see what they want, explaining why Malcolm is able to maintain the illusion that he is alive. The end of the film sees the world transform into reality, with Malcolm realizing things that he had previously blocked out.

For an otherwise tightly written film, this rule seems like too simple of an explanation. It is clear that Shyamalan wrote himself into a corner, and that the story and twist of The Sixth Sense wouldn’t work without this rule. However, rewatches allow it to become clear just how heavily the film’s twist relies on this rule, but it isn’t hard to imagine a tighter story where this isn’t required.

5 Cole’s Powers Need Some More Explanation

They Have Some Plot Holes

Every detail about how The Sixth Sense‘s ghosts work is fed to the audience through exposition explained by Cole, the child who is able to see the ghosts. However, there are some questions about how he learned these things. Since the ghosts aren’t aware that they are ghosts, it is clear that they didn’t tell Cole how their rules worked. Cole could have picked some things up along the way, but ideas like ghosts seeing what they want would only be available information if someone told Cole about it.

It also isn’t clear why Cole is able to only see specific ghosts. If Cole could see every dead person, then he would constantly be wading through a sea of over 100 billion ghosts rather than only seeing them every once in a while. Thus, it is clear that there are some rules that are never fully explained to the audience.

4 The Movie Can’t Decide If Malcolm Or Cole Is The Main Character

They Fight For The Spotlight

Malcolm and Cole are fantastic characters throughout The Sixth Sense. However, the movie has a problem in that it can’t decide which one is the main character. Malcolm seemingly starts out as the protagonist of the film, with the first half of the movie focusing on his seemingly struggling marriage and his investigation into Cole’s condition. However, this changes at the film’s midpoint, with Malcolm being missing from a ton of key scenes surrounding Cole after he reveals that he can see dead people.

Malcolm only comes back into the spotlight in the final scene, when he discovers he is dead. Cole is the character who has the more significant character arc, with him learning to come to terms with his powers, making him seem like more of a main character than Malcolm.

3 Anna Is Underdeveloped (But She Has To Be)

It Was Impossible To Make Her Work

In The Sixth Sense, Olivia Williams’ Anna is the wife of Malcolm, with her being one of the weakest parts of the film. Despite her failing marriage with Malcolm being one of the key storylines in the film, Anna is incredibly underdeveloped. She is silent through most of her scenes, and while Malcolm’s motivations and characteristics are fairly fleshed out, Anna is far more one-note.

However, this is required in the story of The Sixth Sense due to her knowing that Malcolm is dead. Malcolm and Anna can’t have any conversations outside of The Sixth Sense‘s opening scenes, and she isn’t involved in Cole’s story at all. Because of this, she can only be characterized visually, and while the film did as best as it could, she still feels like less of a character than Malcolm, Cole, and Lynn.

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2 The Sixth Sense Isn’t Really A Horror Movie

It Is More Of A Mystery

The Sixth Sense is oftentimes referred to as a horror movie, but this may be a misclassification. The Sixth Sense is much more of a supernatural mystery, as nothing in it is all that scary. The only truly scary scene in The Sixth Sense is the one in which the ghost appears to Cole in his house, with none of the other ghosts really coming off as frightening. While they do have gory makeup, these characters are presented pretty plainly, giving The Sixth Sense a unique feel.

From watching The Sixth Sense, it never seems like the film is trying to be scary, meaning that this problem isn’t the movie’s fault. Instead, the horror genre that is prescribed to the film seems to be a result of its unique story and tone, as it is a bit hard to market outside of the twist ending.

1 M. Night Shyamalan’s Future Movies Never Lived Up To The Sixth Sense’s Legacy

The Bar Was Set Too High

The Sixth Sense was a great start to M. Night Shyamalan’s career, but his future movies unfortunately never lived up to the 1999 film’s legacy. The Sixth Sense is considered one of the best films of all time, with it reaching heights that Shyamalan hasn’t since been able to recapture. Shyamalan is still famous for his twists, but unfortunately, none of the following movies have had a twist nearly as shocking as the one found here.

M. Night Shyamalan has made some good movies since The Sixth Sense, with Unbreakable and Split being the standouts. However, he has also made some movies that have been critically panned, such as After Earth, The Last Airbender, and Lady in the Water. This gives The Sixth Sense an interesting tone upon a rewatch, as it is hard not to consider its greatness within the context of M. Night Shyamalan’s career in its entirety.

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Directed by M. Night Shyamalan, The Sixth Sense is a psychological thriller about a young boy who can see and communicate with ghosts. Bruce Willis as Dr. Malcolm Crowe, a child psychologist who tries to help Cole, played by Haley Joel Osment, while grappling with his own personal demons. The movie features a twist ending that has become iconic in pop culture.

Director M. Night Shyamalan Release Date August 6, 1999 Studio(s) Disney Distributor(s) Disney , Dimension Films Writers M. Night Shyamalan Cast Bruce Willis , Toni Collette , Haley Joel Osment , Olivia Williams , Donnie Wahlberg Runtime 107 minutes Budget $40 Million Expand

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