This year marks the 20th anniversary of the movie that introduced us to the man who would make his name on Twilight Zone-style twists: M. Night Shyamalan. Everyone had expected The Sixth Sense to be a fairly low key summer affair, one that would likely be forgotten after a week or two. Instead, it hung around thanks to word of mouth, specifically on the strength of its twist. The surprise thing is that there were repeat viewers. Even knowing the twist, movie-goers would return to see the movie recontextualized with what they knew from the end.

Shyamalan’s reputation as a writer and a directory would take a strong hit in decades to come. It’s very difficult to come back from The Happening. I would argue, however, that this movie features strong storytelling. One of the reasons we live in such a spoiler-phobic culture is because when the spoiler becomes known, there’s no reason at all to want to see the movie again.

The Sixth Sense isn’t that, really. It’s about human relationships, as conveyed through some excellent acting form Haley Joel Osment, Toni Colette, and Bruce Willis. It holds up after that twist reveal because it adds another dimension to existing relationships, rather than merely being a surprise “gotcha” moment for the viewers. Going back into the theaters is like seeing an all new movie.

The Sixth Sense ended up being the second highest grossing film of 1999, right behind the juggernaut known as Star Wars – Episode 1: The Phantom Menace. The movie was nominated for six Academy Awards (Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Original Screenplay, Best Supporting Actor, Best Supporting Actress, Best Editing) and launched Shyamalan’s career into the stratosphere.

I have but one wish today: that the entire comment section be covered in gray. Flex that spoiler tag, people, because today’s prompt is: What is your favorite movie twist?

Is it when that [spoiler title=’Title’]cool guy was just a figment of the main unnamed character’s imagination?[/spoiler]

Or when [spoiler title=’Title’]that dude in the awesome black villain costume turned out to be the father of the hero?[/spoiler]

Or even when it was [spoiler title=’Title’]EARTH ALL ALONG?!?!?[/spoiler]

Talk about this and non-spoilerific things you’ve seen in movies lately!

PRODUCTION NOTE! I will be traveling in the next month to a place where both wi-fi and cell coverage is poor. The Weekly Movie Thread will be set to go. (As of this writing, I have prompts scheduled out to January 2020.) However, my usual list of links to other reviews on this site will be put on temporary hiatus. I usually copy the link to those real-time as soon as they’re published. I don’t know if I’ll have the opportunity to do that while traveling.

However, you can always view the most recent reviews under the Movie Reviews tag.

Spoilers ahead for upcoming prompts!

10/22 – Favorite horror comedy
10/29 – costumes you’ve worn based on movies
11/5 – I love 1979
11/12 – favorite cel animation