TITLE: THE SIXTH SENSE

AUTHOR: M. Night Shyamalan

LOCALE: Philadelphia

GENRE: Drama Horror

CIRCA: Present w/ Flashback

FORMAT: Script

NO. OF PAGES: 126

LOG LINE:

A child psychologist tries to redeem himself by discovering the strange secret of an 8 year old boy who is haunted by ghosts.

BRIEF SYNOPSIS:

MALCOLM CROWE, 30's, a respected child psychologist and his wife ANNA are deeply in love. But their perfect world is turned upside down when 19-year old VINCENT GRAY, a former child patient of Malcolm's, blames Malcolm for failing him years ago, and shoots him. TWO YEARS LATER. Malcolm begins counseling COLE SEAR, a reclusive 8-year old with the exact same psychological profile of Vincent Gray. Malcolm is determined not to fail Cole the way he failed Vincent. Cole's mother, LYNN, late 20's, knows there is something wrong with her son, but he won't tell her. Slowly, Cole begins to open to Malcolm about his harrowing visions of ghosts that pursue him. Malcolm's relationship with Anna is non-existent. When Malcolm speaks to Anna, she doesn't answer. It's as if she cannot hear him.

Malcolm comes to the conclusion the ghosts are drawn to Cole because they have unfinished lives, something yet to say, or do. Malcolm tells Cole he should listen to the ghosts instead of running from them, which only causes them to be angry. Cole's mother is highly skeptical of his ability, until he reveals to her a message from his grandmother who has passed away. Cole and Lynn are finally reconciled. Malcolm feels he has succeeded. FLASHBACK TO 2 YEARS AGO to the opening scene, Malcolm is shot and killed by Vincent, who turns the gun on himself. It has been Malcolm's ghost all along which has helped Cole. Like all ghosts… Malcolm

had to complete his unfinished work… and he does.

COMMENTS SUMMARY: THE SIXTH SENSE is a very well-written, character driven story. In the tradition of GHOST, its theme explores the possibility of the dead communicating with the living. The premise of a child having this power with dead is a very interesting premise, and yet at the same time, hauntingly disturbing. His fear comes across very well, as there are strong emotional ups and downs. The script is able to pull off what could be a hokey story in a convincing down-to-earth, realistic manner. The story is compelling and well-executed because the characters are so engaging. The pseudo parent-child relationship between the Malcolm and Cole is very-well developed as in THE CLIENT. The dialogue is good, not great. The script relies more on the visual descriptions which work well. After a great set up, the script slows down somewhat in the second act, but it quickly goes into high gear in the third act. The surprise twist at the end, of Malcolm turning out to be a ghost himself, is not forced. It works because of the skillful story structure.

CONSIDER