M. Night Shyamalan has brought some notable horror and thriller movies, among them theUnbreakabletrilogy, and one theory connects this to Shyamalan’s biggest horror hit to date.The movies of M. Night Shyamalanhave explored different genres, always with his peculiar narrative style that has stood out (for good and bad) for his use of plot twists. Among Shyamalan’s works istheUnbreakabletrilogy, formed byUnbreakable,Split, andGlass, which mix thriller, psychological horror, and superheroes, though not the typical type.
Unbreakableintroduced David Dunn (Bruce Willis), the only survivor of a train crash who now works as a security guard. Dunn met Elijah Price (Samuel L. Jackson) a man with a rare disease that rendered his bones extremely fragile, and who explained his theory of real-life superheroes.Unbreakablewas followed bySplit, which introduced Kevin Wendell Crumb (James McAvoy), a man with dissociative identity disorder who has committed many crimes. All of them came together inGlass, thus closing the trilogy, and though it’s a world of its own, a theory has now linked it toThe Sixth Sense.
The Sixth Sense’s Cole Created The Unbreakable Trilogy – Theory Explained
The Unbreakable Trilogy Comes From Cole Sear’s Imagination
M. Night Shyamalan made his directorial debut in 1992 withPraying with Anger, but he became widely known in 1999 thanks toThe Sixth Sense. Also written by Shyamalan,The Sixth Sensefollows Malcolm Crowe (Willis), a child psychologist who starts working with nine-year-oldCole Sear (Haley Joel Osment), who confides in him that he can see dead people.The Sixth Sensehas one of the best plot twists of the decade, and it was a critical and commercial success, quickly establishing Shyamalan as a horror and thriller filmmaker.
The theory says that Cole created theUnbreakableuniverse as a comic book, asThe Sixth Senseestablished that he was a very creative and imaginative kid.
Now, althoughThe Sixth Senseis its own world and doesn’t connect to other Shyamalan movies, aReddittheory suggests it’s the source of theUnbreakabletrilogy. The theory says that Cole created theUnbreakableuniverse as a comic book, asThe Sixth Senseestablished that he was a very creative and imaginative kid.The character of David Dunn looked exactly like Dr. Malcolm because Cole saw him as a hero, as he was the doctor who actually helped him with his very special skill. This is why Bruce Willis plays both Dr. Malcolm and David Dunn.
As for the rest of the characters in theUnbreakabletrilogy, Cole created them based on the ghosts he had met and the stories they shared with him. Although there’s nothing inThe Sixth Sensenor any of the movies in theUnbreakabletrilogy that can actually support this theory, it gives a fun connection to Willis’ characters and a “connected universe” vibe to Shyamalan’s works.
The Two Best M. Night Shyamalan Plot Twists Have One Thing In Common That Is Hard To Ignore
There’s at least one obvious connection between the two most shocking twists of M. Night Shyamalan’s career, and it’s pretty hard to miss.
Could The Sixth Sense’s Cole Have Been Superpowered, Too?
Maybe Cole’s Special Skill Was Actually A Superpower
Cole had enough imagination to create a superhero world like that of theUnbreakabletrilogy, but another theory claims that he could have been superpowered himself. Cole’s skill is seeing dead people, interacting, and communicating with them, which, to oneReddituser, falls into the realm of “mediums.” With this in mind, the same user suggests Cole might have been superpowered himself, which would mean that,instead of creating the world ofUnbreakable,The Sixth Senseis part of it.
Cole’s superpower is seeing dead people, which he even uses to solve a murder– that of Kyra (Mischa Barton), who had been secretly poisoned by her stepmother. Of course,The Sixth Sensebeing set in the same universe as theUnbreakablemovies creates another problem with Bruce Willis’ characters. Atthe end ofThe Sixth Sense, Malcolm is revealed to be a ghost, too, but he finally manages to cross over, so Malcolm and Dunn wouldn’t cross paths, yet it’s strange that they look the exact same.
The Sixth Sense Might Not Be Linked To Unbreakable – But This Other Shyamalan Movie Might Be
It Might Have Sneakily Introduced Another Superpowered Character
It’s unlikelyThe Sixth Senseis linked to theUnbreakableuniverse as there aren’t any indicators of this in any of the movies, but another Shyamalan movie might have a connection to it. AnotherReddituser found thatTrap’s Cooper (Josh Hartnett) could be superpowered like Dunn.Cooper’s superpower would be resistance, and this is based on the scene when the SWAT team arrives at his home and tases him to incapacitate him. Despite already being drugged, Cooper stands strong and attacks some of the officers, and it’s not until he’s tased again that he finally falls.
Trapcould be placed afterGlassin theUnbreakabletimeline, which would explain why there’s no mention of Cooper’s superhuman resistance and strength, as atthe end ofGlass, the existence of superhumans was exposed. WhetherTrapcould truly be part of theUnbreakableuniverse or not is unknown, and it’s up to every viewer to decide if Cole could have created Dunn, Elijah, and Kevin or not.
