The Sixth Sense: 25 Years On

M Night Shyamalan’s 1999 spooky smash hit is considered a classic with good reason — even if you know the ending

Credit: Buena Vista/Spyglass

Warning: Contains spoilers (though I won’t reveal the ending)

Much of the publicity around M Night Shyamalan’s 1999 smash hit The Sixth Sense revolved around the famous final big twist. This deft narrative rug-pull is justly celebrated, and has, alas been spoiled for many younger people coming to the film for the first time via many a thoughtless meme. Spoiler sensitivity for classic films is a major tenet of my cinematic belief system, and I can only urge and urge again for the it’s-not-a-spoiler-if-it’s-an-older-film crowd to take a moment and think through that selfish perspective in consideration of younger viewers who deserve to discover classics unspoiled.

With that in mind, I will not reveal the famous ending in this article, so those who haven’t seen The Sixth Sense can breathe easy. That said, if you haven’t watched M Night Shyamalan’s masterpiece — still, by far, the best film he has ever made — please proceed with caution, as I will discuss other elements of the plot best discovered for yourself. In fact, The Sixth Sense is best seen how I first saw it during the original cinema release: With no prior knowledge whatsoever.