The Sixth Sense (1999)
Where to Watch
- Unlike modern films, the massive explosion sequence in The Sixth Sense used zero CGI. The crew spent three weeks setting up the practical rig for a single take.
- Despite a very rocky opening weekend, The Sixth Sense went on to gross over 5x its initial budget thanks purely to incredible audience word-of-mouth.
- The most famous, quotable line in The Sixth Sense wasn't actually in the script; it was completely improvised by the actor on the third take.
The Sixth Sense is a 1999 American supernatural psychological thriller written and directed by M. Night Shyamalan. The film stars Bruce Willis as Dr.
Malcolm Crowe, a distinguished child psychologist in Philadelphia haunted by his failure with a former patient, who takes on the case of Cole Sear, played by Haley Joel Osment, a deeply troubled nine-year-old boy who claims he can see and communicate with the dead. As Malcolm works with Cole, he discovers that the boy's terrifying ability is real and that the ghosts who appear to Cole are seeking help with unfinished business from their lives. The Sixth Sense was a cultural phenomenon built around its legendary twist ending, which recontextualized the entire film and became one of the most discussed plot revelations in cinema history.
Cole's whispered confession โ "I see dead people" โ became one of the most quoted lines of the 1990s and entered the permanent pop culture lexicon. Haley Joel Osment, who was only 10 years old during filming, delivered a performance of astonishing maturity and emotional depth that earned him an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor. M.
Night Shyamalan's masterful control of information โ planting clues throughout the film that are invisible on first viewing but obvious in retrospect โ demonstrated a storytelling precision that drew comparisons to Alfred Hitchcock. The film earned $672 million worldwide on a $40 million budget, making it the second-highest-grossing film of 1999 and establishing Shyamalan as a major filmmaking talent. The Sixth Sense received six Academy Award nominations including Best Picture and Best Director.
