A Sensational Sixth Sense

Hello everybody and once again, I will be reviewing a movie and this time we have a movie from the late 1990s and produced by the famous M.Night Shyamalan. Make no mistake about it, the movie was a oldie but a goodie. Let's get started.

         I want you to look at your circle of friends. Everybody has them, the freak, the weirdo, the mad hatter. They are the freaks of the society that parents send to the psychologist. The antagonist, Cole was someone that could see and talk to the deceased, but no one believed him. He even said "Nobody will be upset with rainbows", indicated that he needed to conceal this part of him to not make the people around him worried or scared. However, as it seems, it is not easy to believe someone when they tell you their "secret". You begin to think that they are a schizo patient or pranking you. However, Cole utilized elements of persuasion in this successful attempt at convincing his own mother. Firstly, he used evidence based appeals when he told his own mother about the cycling accident that happened in the traffic jam in front. Second element of persuasion was his own trustworthiness when he mentioned about his grandmother loving the bumblebee bracelet and that the Grandmother went to her dance recital. This finally convinced his mother.

         Cole wasn't the only one that persuaded someone. The movie persuaded me to think differently about ghosts and the afterlife as well. There are ghosts that have someone that they wish to tell to the living before they passed. I know of a friend that says she can see ghosts in the morning before she wakes up. Through this movie, I believe her more when she said it as ghosts use it as a way to talk to people, just like how Malcolm talked to Anna in her sleep before he realized he was dead.

          In the first 30 minutes of the movie, there was nothing happening. There was only this soft unnerving cold aura to the movie, like it was heading to somewhere unpleasant and the whole audience knew subliminally. The question is how? First, we form our perception on the emotions taking place by internalizing with the main characters in the movie. For example, Anna Crowe when she went down to the wine cellar and she experienced sudden chill and creepy noises. The facial expression that she gave was fear, which was followed by a fast bolt up the stairs and into the living room. Now, why do we instinctively do this? The answer to that question stems from the survival instinct that keeps us alive. The fear that we experienced caused us to be more anxious, alert and anticipate the unknown. The film also added the element of suspense, silence and sudden transition of frame for us to get anxious and even"prepared" to be scared. The ironic part of this movie was that it wasn't even meant to be scary and gory, but it turned that way due to the effects that took place.

           What really stood out in this film was the twist of the film. It started from seemingly innocent advice from Cole for Malcolm to talk to her wife became the explanation that Malcolm Crowe is actually dead in the beginning and this is all the illusion that he sees. In the montage, the voice of Cole repeats and he finally realizes that he has been dead the whole time and he finally sees the blood stains.

            In conclusion, this film deserves all the credit that it put into scaring us and ultimately changing a little part in us. But then again, isn't that what good movies are for?

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