Trailer
Plot summary
At home with his wife Anna, the child psychologist Malcolm Crowe is confronted by Vincent Grey, a former patient he could not help, who blames him for failing him and shoots him and then himself. Months later Malcolm takes up the case of Cole Sear, a nine-year-old who reminds him of Vincent, hoping to succeed where he once did not, and also hoping to mend his marriage to Anna, which has grown distant. Cole's mother Lynn finds signs that her son has been hurt, and at a birthday party bullies lock him in a cupboard, where he panics. Malcolm doubts he can reach the boy, especially after Cole tells him he sees the dead.
In these lists: Coming to Netflix in October 2026 (US), Coming to Netflix in the US: What Is Next
Cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about The Sixth Sense (1999)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- Disney production president David Vogel bought the rights to M. Night Shyamalan's spec script for $3 million without getting corporate approval, on the condition that Shyamalan direct it himself; Disney fired Vogel over the unauthorized deal and then sold the production rights to Spyglass Entertainment while keeping distribution rights and 12.5% of the box office.
- Bruce Willis was cast as Malcolm Crowe partly as a way to make up to the studio for his role in the earlier film Broadway Brawler, which had collapsed the year before.
- The Sixth Sense mostly avoids the color red, saving it for moments "tainted by the other world," such as the church door where Cole seeks refuge and the balloon and sweater at his birthday party.
SPOILER
All the clothes Malcolm wears are items he wore or touched the evening before his death, including his overcoat and his blue rowing sweatshirt. The filmmakers initially feared that the slow camera zoom towards his face as Cole says "I see dead people" would be too much of a giveaway, but they left it in.- Director M. Night Shyamalan was initially unsure about Haley Joel Osment for Cole Sear, saying his audition tape made him look like "this really sweet cherub, kind of beautiful, blond boy" rather than the darker character he had in mind, but ultimately felt Osment "nailed it with the vulnerability and the need."
- Marisa Tomei was considered for the role of Lynn Sear, Michael Cera auditioned for the role of Cole Sear, and Liam Aiken was offered that role but turned it down.
- Actress Toni Collette said in a 2025 interview that she did not even realize she was making a horror movie until she saw an edited scene involving Mischa Barton and Haley Joel Osment.
- By vote of the members of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, The Sixth Sense was awarded the Nebula Award for Best Script during 1999.
