‘They scare me too.’
Nine-year-old Cole Sear (we ‘see’ what you did there, M! – Haley Joel Osment) is a troubled little boy who has no friends and walks around wearing his absent father’s things. His mother Lynn (Toni Collette putting in stellar performance as usual) is doing her best to keep things together, but she’s struggling to cope with Cole’s secretive and sometimes frustrating behaviour.
Cue Dr Malcolm Crowe, a child pyschologist with problems of his own. His wife Anna (Olivia Williams) seems to have stopped talking to him and is flirting with her handsome colleague.
Malcolm wants to help Cole, but maybe it’s really him that needs Cole’s help?
Twenty-six years on it’s still fun to watch this film and pick up on the visual clues that hint at the ‘didn’t see it coming’ twist ending. Why does Malcolm always wear the same clothes? Why does Lynn never speak to him? Why is Anna ignoring him? Did you spot the red church door, Anna’s red shawl, the door-handle to the basement in the Crowe’s home?
In an alternate casting universe, Michael Cera (Juno, This is the End, Superbad) would have played Cole. However, he had prepared for the audition by only reading the scene where Malcolm does the coin magic trick, assumed it was a comedy, and played Cole as happy and carefree.
Haley Joel Osment read the entire script and understood the assignment, turning up to the audition in a suit and playing Cole as an anxiety-ridden little kid with the weight of the world on his shoulders. There’s some performances where you can see the acting. This isn’t one of them. In fact all the cast (aside from M Night inserting himself in a cameo as a paediatrician) are great.
Toni Collette ‘styled’ Lynn herself, with a bright red wig, clicky nails and cheap clothes. And she’s totally believable as a frazzled working mum trying to make ends meet and look after her son.
Though often parodied and imitated, The Sixth Sense still packs an emotional gut punch. A firm Autumn favourite to see in spooky season.
Content warning: injury, infanticide, self-harm, ‘I’ll show you where my dad keeps his gun’
Final verdict: You’ve had enough roast beef, you need to leave the table.
Streaming now on Amazon Prime, Disney + and the Sky Store.
