With the pace and feel of an early-evening shadow creeping across the floor, this 1999 feature from writer-director M. Night Shyamalan announced the emergence of a bracing and assured talent. Haley Joel Osment – whose face has the decaying cuteness of a jack-o’-lantern the day after Halloween – proves riveting as a boy who sees ghosts, while Bruce Willis humbly anchors the film as his therapist. Altogether an entrancing piece of work, right up to the famous twist ending.
