The Sixth Sense is a ghost story, spooky at first and with moments of startling fright. From the previews, we expected to leave the theatre with the exhausting numbness that comes from being wrung out with fear and trembling. Instead, we walked away exhilarated and blessed. The tone of the story shifted as the characters grew in their relationships and understanding of each other. When a movie allows us to experience the fulfillment of hope from the depths of insanity and despair, it is pure gold. The worth of such, as this movie exemplifies, is measured in part by phenomenal box office receipts. As modern people, we hunger for stories such as this one. They nourish something deep within our souls.

Both of us (Craig and Anna-Maria) have met people with spiritual insight and dogmatic principles that they want made into Hollywood movies. Of course, as they view it, the heartless, soulless, mindless suits (i.e. Hollywood Executives) are only interested in money, so they conspire against the perspectives that our friends believe so steadfastly would make great movies. Thus our friends and audiences are robbed of the glory of the "truths" that so need screening. Unfortunately, whether they want to capture "Biblical Morality", or the path to enlightenment as taught by a guru, or the delights of erotic Kama Sutra, they all freight their stories with explanations, lectures, and sermons rather than letting us experience their insights through the dramatized lives of characters. We only hope that they will watch The Sixth Sense, and watch it again on video or DVD, and buy the screenplay, and break it down beat by beat. Maybe then, they will get an idea of how a spiritual story could be told.

In his third film, 28-year-old director/writer M. Night Shyamalan exhibits profound mastery of the difficult and subtle art of weaving complex psychological, theological, and spiritual themes into a powerful, transcendent story. Bruce Willis (as respected child psychologist Malcolm Crowe) delivers the premier performance of his lifetime, one full of respect, subtlety, sensitivity, loneliness, longing, and love. Bruce has made a career out of action roles that tended to mask his range of dramatic expression.

Malcolm’s young patient, appropriately named Cole Sear (as in one who sees), is played to perfection by the young actor Haley Joel Osmet. Cole teeters on the brink of madness as ghosts, often mangled and tormented by bloody or violent deaths, appear to him because he alone can see them and communicate with them. Haley’s open and troubled portrayal ranks as one of the best ever by a child star.

Though in some ways promoted as a scary ghost story, Sixth Sense is really a relationship drama set in a supernatural milieu. At first, we do not even see the dead. They are presented through the terror they evoke in young Cole. The movie unreels for at least half its length before we begin to see the dead ones, and even then, we see them only briefly. At that point, instead of degrading into a shrill gore fest, as it very well might have, the movie dramatically shifts its tone and emphasis. The deeper themes take over, and we learn that Cole can gain sanity and mastery if he lets go of his fear and lets the spirits speak to him. They ultimately seek him out because they have died violently and unjustly, and they do not really know they are dead. Like many classic ghosts, they must find justice and closure before they can move on.

Like all great stories, this film may have different impact on different people at different stages of life’s journey, and certainly, it must be seen and savored more than once to capture all it has to offer.

On the most obvious level, the Sixth Sense is the story of a gifted child psychologist (Malcolm) whose young patient (Cole) is tormented by visions of ghosts. The child is fearful, reclusive, self-mutilating, and just barely holding on. Cole lives with a mother who struggles to understand and love him, but he keeps his visions of ghosts a secret from her. At first, we are not certain whether the reported specters are the product of a deranged imagination or real ghosts. Cole presents a challenging case for even as gifted a therapist as Malcolm, but the challenge is greater than just unraveling the mystery of Cole’s psychology and spirit.

When Malcolm and Cole meet, they both have ghosts of different sorts to deal with. Malcolm lives with a haunting sense of failure as a therapist and a husband, and Cole is retreating further and further into the madness caused by his visions, but neither of their ghosts are what they appear to be. We will not explicate the plot further so that it may work its magic on you, but we’d like to explore several levels of theme interwoven into this brilliant and moving story.

First, the movie raises a challenging question: Are there spirits who remain with us after their death and if so, what is their purpose? The Sixth Sense answers that yes, there are ghosts, and they are terrifying, noisy, and angry, but they are only frightening because those who can see them and communicate with them, like Cole, often have no context for understanding them. Once Cole learns to listen, he can help them and find peace and safety.

Second, the story raises issues about openness and relationships. Cole is immobilized in gripping fear for much of the film because he is in such total isolation about what is happening to him. He refuses to tell his mother about it because she is the only person who loves him as weird and difficult as he seems. He reluctantly begins to find peace and healing when he shares his torments with his therapist/mentor, Malcolm.

Third, the movie so cleverly warns us against imposing our reality on other people. As a therapist and mentor, Malcolm must not judge from his scientific, clinical paradigms to understand and help Cole. Perhaps, his earlier patient shot himself because Malcolm judged him insane without considering the patient’s experiences at face value. Even if we do not accept the spiritual dimensions of this film, we can all learn the importance of truly trying to see the world from the perspective of another.

Fourth, the movie questions the power of institutional religion to give us magical solutions for our most profound soul-aches. Cole seeks refuge in a church. He hides in a pew or on the balcony where he plays with his toy warriors. At home, he has built a tent from bed covers that he fills with "protective" religious bric-a-brac. No matter how tenaciously and desperately he grasps his icons, his salvation comes from opening his heart, mind, body, and soul, and from accepting his abilities and using them to benefit others, in this case the departed.

Even if one takes the meaning of ghosts as a fictional metaphor, one can get much from this film as one might get from Dickens’s immortal Christmas Carol with the three ghosts who visit Ebenezer Scrooge, or the classic tales of terror from Edgar Allan Poe. As emotional and poetic presentation of two estranged souls making profound contact, the Sixth Sense allows us to experience reconciliation between the mother and son. This is one of the moments of true brilliance in the film. As the scene unfolds, we hope from the depths of our hearts that Cole will use just the right words. What an incredible moment of tension, expectation, and hope that left us both tear streaked with joy.

We could continue discussing themes, acting, and details on and on, but if you have not seen the movie, go as soon as possible. Let this movie challenge you to discover what it is that you fear to express or deal with. Let it expose your ghosts. Ultimately, if you follow the resolution of this well told tale, you will gain profound insight into the power we give to the fears that cripple us psychologically, spiritually, and in our relationships.

This movie touched us so deeply and unexpectedly that it gives Craig the occasion to shed some of his ghosts by exposing his former misdirection regarding Hollywood and movies. He was, for much of his life, a member of cultic, dogmatic belief systems that totally rejected Hollywood and modern culture as the devil’s spawning ground. In fact, he did not watch more than a few movies for nearly two decades. For reasons too complex to explicate here, Craig evolved. Movies now form a profound part of his understanding of life and modern cultural and spiritual issues we all deal with.

Noting the spiritual themes in Sixth Sense, Craig wanted to find out how it was rated by Ted Baehr’s MovieGuide, Family Friendly Guide to Entertainment. Ted Baehr is the head of an organization named the Christian Film and Television Commission. Baehr lectures publicly and sermonizes in Churches and other forums to recapture Hollywood for Christ. He opposes the depravity and destructive influences in movies and television.

How would MovieGuide deal with the many, many remakes of the Christmas Carol (The Tiny Tim/Scrooge story) that has been the source of radio, stage play, musical, film, and television adaptations? Are they all evil stories because ghosts walked among the living? And how about Frank Capra’s beloved It’s a Wonderful Life? Look closely at Clarence, the goofy angel sent to save George Baily from suicide. Clarence hardly reflects a Scriptural description of Angels sent from God who are feared by the bravest and most spiritual of mortals. In fact, if one listens closely, Clarence is a ghost who died some time before and is trying to move up in the spiritual world as an angel. Is It’s a Wonderful Life evil because it shows the dead walking among us? How about the ghost of Hamlet’s father?

What else could be evil in this film? The Sixth Sense shows no sex, no nudity, no espousal of crime. We do not remember any vulgarity. Perhaps, there was a little cursing we do not recall, but we were not counting curse words. There was no disrespect for anyone’s faith, practice, or clergy. There was some violence, but the goriest scene, the suicide by a bullet to the head, was off screen. The injured or bloodied ghosts made minimal appearances and were shown briefly. The ghost on the screen the longest died from poisoning. She did vomit, but it was really a way of releasing the poison. So where does the Evil rating come from? Let me make two suggestions.

First, the film is Evil because it so effectively espouses a view that the source of strength and sanity comes from accepting one’s gifts, from within. In a moment of frustration, Lynn Sear says to her son: "I've been praying, but I must not be praying right. Maybe, we are going to have to answer each other's prayers." This opposes the dependence on an external God who directs and empowers our lives.

Second, those who want Hollywood to be the cinematic pulpit for a particular dogmatic theology suffer hugely when a spiritual film does as well as The Sixth Sense, for example. If Hollywood were controlled by demonic forces, spiritual movies wouldn’t ever have a chance of succeeding. The reality is that Hollywood does not care as much about the particulars of any belief system as it cares about a good story well told. Maybe, dogmatists everywhere would use their time better by examining their incapability of producing well told stories based on their beliefs.

Unfortunately, it is much easier for the frustrated believers to hold fast to the notion that the evil world, headed by Satan or some devilish spiritual force, thwarts their noble and righteous efforts to promote a doctrinal agenda. Thus those, such as Mr. Shyamalan, who spin a marvelous cinematic story that receives fantastic popular support have their work branded as evil. Does anyone smell the stench of envy here?

Fortunately for all of us, we live in a free society in which, even though we may defend MovieGuide’s right to take any position it chooses, we are assured the right to revel in the beauty and power of the work of Mr. Shyamalan. God bless you, sir, and may you continue to grow and develop great films.