“WHAT!?! How? Ohhh.” With a thrilling buildup, The Sixth Sense’s plot develops at a perfect rate. Detail by detail, you gradually are fed just enough information to keep you wondering about what happens next. No matter how much you scour the story for foreboding elements, you won’t see what’s coming. I certainly didn’t. Even if somebody spoiled the movie for you, it’s still enjoyable watching the intense transition into action-packed corkscrews. Also, the plot escalates in the most startling ways, invoking a sense of indelible shock but still allowing for you to catch up with the turn of events. At first, it seems like the story of strange client a psychologist took, but the title quickly denies that. Later on, right when it seems to be developing into a horror story, more startling changes begin to occur.

The temperature plummets, sending chills down your spine. You whirl around but nobody’s there. At least, you think. Everyone thinks. Everyone except Cole Sear. Trembling in dread, he knows they’re here. Holding his breath in trepidation, he slowly edges forward. He peers around the corner, and spots her – a young girl, wild-eyed with confusion and just looking for help. Terrified, he flees, knowing the crucial fact she doesn’t. She’s sick. No, more than that, she’s dead. She just doesn’t know it yet. None of them do, making it all the more traumatizing for the one little boy who sees them.

Consequently, most think he’s crazy, but they don’t realize what’s really happening when the temperature drops and you feel the prickles on the back of your neck. They’re everywhere. All the time, they’re here, but nobody notices. Nobody except Cole Sear. That’s what makes this ordinary nine-year old different. He sees them at school, at home, everywhere. Constantly fearful, he is viewed as a freak by all of his teachers and classmates. Friendless and alone in his plight, he is eventually sent to psychologist Malcolm Crowe. Dr. Crowe tried to help someone like Cole before. And failed. Benson Grey committed suicide, too disturbed by the ghosts he kept seeing. So, Dr. Crowe decides to help Cole to alleviate the strong pang of guilt he felt at failing the other boy.

Building up suspense from the very beginning, it’s both a thriller and a horror movie and is very well-structured. My only complaint would be that there was too much time spent in the buildup – it took away from the eerie ghost part of the story. The film had nearly gotten to the point where I was convinced this story had nothing to do with ghosts at all, just some petrified kid. Well, that was until Cole admitted to the psychologist “I see dead people.” Then, I could think of only two responses viewers could have: ‘Wow, this kid has some real problems. He’s Insane!’ but more likely they’d start to rethink it and realize that the ghostly aspect is finally being integrated.  Also, the graphics are definitely not top-notch, but the plot developments easily compensate. The overall storyline is great. It’s an involving yet underrated thriller that I would definitely give a high rating, even though I tend to be overcritical of movies. On the whole, I would probably rate it 9.5/10, taking off points because there was too much buildup in the beginning. Generally, I’d say this is a great film, definitely worth watching. A modern-day Alfred Hitchcock film, it’s a horror film but not too scary, so it could also be classified as a thriller. Watching the story play out and seeing the incorporation of unassuming twists is exhilarating, so I’d consider this film one of my favorites.