The Sixth Sense (2001)
SPOILER WARNING
The following post contains MAJOR SPOILERS for the film The Sixth Sense.
If you haven’t seen it, go no further!
COLD OPEN
00:02:53 Opening Image
A lightbulb begins to glow in the darkness, growing brighter and brighter until it illuminates a DARK CELLAR.
00:03:42 😱 Scare Priming
A woman descends into the cellar to retrieve a bottle of wine. After selecting a bottle, she pauses and listens as if startled by something. Camera pushes in on her face. She’s suddenly aware of how cold and alone down here in the darkness and shadows of the dank cellar. She begins to audibly shiver and rub her arms for warmth, then hurries back up the stairs as if afraid of being caught by something.
ANNA and MALCOLM CROWE drink wine together, celebrating Malcolm’s recent recognition by the city of Philadelphia for his work as a child psychotherapist.
00:06:48 😱 Scare Sequence Begins
Upon entering the bedroom and beginning to disrobe with Malcolm, Anna discovers that a window has been broken, shattered glass littering the carpet at her feet. Both freeze and process the situation.
The faint beeping of a phone off the hook rises as Malcolm steps over to investigate.
00:07:05 ⚠️ SCARE
A shadow crosses the frame, accompanied by the low whistle of wind. Anna spins to look over her shoulder and SCREAMS.
THERE’S SOMEONE IN THE BATHROOM.
Malcolm carefully moves between Anna and the danger as the sound of rustling clothes is heard from beyond the open bathroom door.
00:07:30 😱 Scary Reveal
In the bathroom, a STRANGE MAN has stripped down to his BVDs and stands shivering on the bath mat, hugging one arm awkwardly with the other.
He does not look up at Malcolm as the latter steps toward the doorway.
Malcolm tells Anna not to move and then begins attempting to ground and reorient the man, using his psychotherapy skills to de-escalate the situation.
However, it does not work — because this kid is one of Malcolm’s former patients — and he’s here for revenge. Malcolm was wrong about his trauma. Very, very wrong.
Malcolm finally remembers the young man’s name. VINCENT GRAY.
But it’s too late…
00:10:11 ⚠️ GUNSHOT
Vincent nonchalantly picks up a gun from the bathroom sink and shoots Malcolm in the stomach. Then puts the gun to his own head and fires.
Anna rushes over to Malcolm, who collapses backwards onto the bed.
Fade Out.
Sequence A
00:10:46 One Year Later…
Malcolm sits on a bench across from a brownstone apartment where the squeamish, mouselike COLE SEAR (he/him, 9) lives.
Cole steps outside and, spotting Malcolm, makes a run for a CHURCH.
Malcolm follows Cole inside and apologizes for missing their appointment earlier, but tries to make it up to him now.
On the way out, Malcolm steals a figurine from a tableau near the doors.
00:15:25 Malcolm Comes Home
It’s night now. Malcolm comes home in time to catch his wife already in bed, asleep. She seems to have fallen asleep in her clothes. A few wadded-up tissues in her hands and beside her.
Malcolm goes down to the basement to work on Cole’s case, researching the latin Cole was speaking. It means, “Out of the depths I cry to you, O lord!” Malcolm is deeply affected by this…
00:17:14 Lynn Sear
Cole’s mother LYNN (she/her, 30s) busies about the apartment, doing laundry and getting Cole ready for the day.
As cole comes down for breakfast, she notices his tie is stained.
00:18:03 ⚠️ JUMP SCARE
Lynn goes to the laundry room to get a clean tie, but when she returns she finds EVERY SINGLE CABINET AND DRAWER IN THE KITCHEN IS OPEN.
Lynn and Cole have a tense moment, Cole can tell Lynn is confused and alarmed, and feels that something is happening to Cole but she can’t put it into words.
She asks what he was looking for. He tells her he was looking for Pop Tarts.
They’re saved from the moment when the doorbell rings. Tommy, the snobbish school bully, has arrived to walk Cole to school.
00:19:15 😱 Clue to the Supernatural
Lynn notices a cold, sweaty handprint left behind after Cole leaves, as if his hands never left the kitchen table…
Cluepernatural
Sequence B
00:19:33 Tommy is a dickweed
One crummy commercial and he thinks he’s Meryl Streep.
Tommy runs off without Cole, who prefers to walk alone anyway.
00:20:02 Foreshadowing
Outside the school, Cole is obviously wary of going in. He waits for all the other students to enter, standing alone in the street and staring up at the imposing old building. The front archway looms like gaping jaws, ready to swallow the tiny boy whole.
00:20:17 Cole’s Second Appointment
Later, Lynn and Malcolm wait in the living room for Cole to return home from school. He comes inside and sees the two sitting there, and freezes.
Lynn gets up and talks to Cole about his day. They go over imaginary, dream versions of their days rather than describe the real thing.
Malcolm tries to earn Cole’s trust with a ‘psychic’ guessing game, but Cole has seen too much to be wooed by cheap parlor tricks.
You’re nice, but you can’t help me.
00:26:13 Anniversary Dinner
Malcolm meets Anna for dinner at the restaurant where he proposed. She’s cold and aloof, already eating. He apologizes, talks about his trouble with keeping time, his trouble with connecting to Cole.
Cole is just like Vincent.
She says “Happy Anniversary,” and departs.
Sequence C
00:28:11 Cole’s Third Appointment
Cole and Malcolm walk together on an overcast autumn day. The roads are wet from a recent rain.
Cole confides in Malcolm that he doesn’t talk to his mom about any of his troubles because she doesn’t look at him like a freak, the way that everyone else does.
Malcolm tells Cole that the idea of him being a ‘freak’ is total bullshit.
Cole is scandalized by Malcolm’s use of the ‘s’ word.
00:29:27 Clue to the Supernatural
While Lynn is busy about the house (doing laundry, because laundry is never, ever done) she notes that it is suddenly extremely cold in the apartment and checks the thermostat.
While checking the thermostat, she stops for a moment to gaze fondly at some family photos hung on the wall beside it. Over Cole’s shoulder in very shot is an odd white smudge, like a glare or flash reflection.
Huh. That’s odd.
00:30:33 Cole’s Fourth Appointment
Cole notices that Malcolm is asking a lot about Dad today.
Malcolm asks Cole about free association writing, and explains what it is.
INTERCUT —While cleaning and looking for laundry, Lynn finds some free associative writing done allegedly by Cole. Very violent stuff.
“What did you write?”
“Upset words.”
Malcolm tells Cole to consider what he wants to get out of their sessions.
Cole tells Malcolm he doesn’t want to be scared anymore.
00:32:56 Malcolm Reading and Listening
Malcolm circles an entry in a book that alludes to Cole’s injuries being self-inflicted.
A knock comes at the door, it’s a man. Anna seems too familiar with him for Malcolm’s comfort, and he gets up to listen closer to their conversation.
The dude asks Anna to come antiquing at an Amish barn sale, but she declines. In the street, the man seems to react badly to the perceived rejection.
00:34:26 Cole Scolded at Cruel School
During class, Cole answers a question about the school using knowledge he gained from his ghost powers — that the school used to be a court, and that they used to perform executions here.
The teacher denies this, suggesting to Cole that maybe someone was just trying to scare him. Humiliated, Cole lashes out using secret knowledge about the teacher.
Stuttering Stanley! Stuttering Stanley!
00:37:16 ⚠️ Teacher Temper Tantrum
His PTSD triggered by Cole’s impossible taunts, the teacher has an outburst — he slams his fist on Cole’s desk and bellows, “Shut up, you FREAK!”
Harrowing.
00:37:28 Cole’s Fifth Appointment
Cole sits alone in a library while other kids play outside. Malcolm comes and sits down across from him. In an attempt to cheer Cole up, Malcolm performs an awful magic trick.
It works, but Cole can’t let it show.
00:39:20 Wedding Video
Malcolm comes home to find their wedding video playing on the TV. He sits down and watches a beautiful greeting from a mutual friend, and is reminded of his immense love for his wife.
Upstairs, Malcolm finds Anna showering. He watches her a moment, but decides not to interrupt her when he notices a new prescription for Zoloft in the medicine cabinet.
Is she secretly getting psychiatric treatment? What does it mean?
Sequence D
00:41:26 The Birthday Party
At a birthday party for Tommy’s friend Derek, Cole does Malcolm’s awful magic trick for another child, with similar results.
00:42:17 😱 Scare Priming
Cole notices a red party balloon float up a spiral staircase and get caught in the domed ceiling.
00:42:45 😱 Scare Priming
He follows it up to a landing where he hears a MAN’S VOICE up ahead.
As he gets closer, the voice BEGS to be let out of a locked chamber near the top of the stairs.
00:42:59 😱 Scary Reveal
The door to the tiny room where the voice is coming from is WIDE OPEN. But the voice is loud and clear,
“I swear on my life, I didn’t take the master’s horse!”
00:43:20 😱 Scare Stakes Raised
Tommy notices Cole staring at the open door and his predatory conditioning takes hold.
Derek and Tommy wrestle Cole into the “dungeon.”
00:44:16 ⚠️ Door Slam
Tommy and Derek slam the heavy wooden door closed on Cole, who pleads, cries, and screams.
Above the din of the party, Lynn’s spider-sense tingles on and tells her to check on her son… whom she suddenly hears screaming upstairs.
As the other parents gather around her, Lynn struggles helplessly to pull the door open, but it’s locked tight. Then suddenly Cole’s screaming ceases and the door UNLOCKS on its own.
Lynn finds Cole unconscious within the cramped room.
00:45:23 Hospital Results
Doctors inform Lynn that despite what happened today, nothing appears to be medically wrong with Cole.
Malcolm sits nearby, listening in on the situation.
The doctors tell Lynn that they found injuries on Cole’s body and a social worker is going to ask her some questions. Lynn does not take the news well, insisting that she could tell something was physically happening to Cole.
00:46:21 Malcolm Visits Cole
Malcolm comes to Cole’s hospital room and tries to cheer him up by telling him a bedtime story.
He’s very bad at it.
Cole wants to hear a different story. He wants to know why Malcolm is sad.
Malcolm frames his story as the story of a stranger, and tells Cole why he’s so devoted to helping him.
This vulnerability allows Cole to trust Malcolm and open up in return.
00:50:27 😱 “I see dead people.”
00:51:50 Malcolm’s Processing
In the parking lot of the hospital, Malcolm talks into his tape recorder, breaking down Cole’s pathologies for posterity.
He concludes that so far, none of his efforts have helped.
00:52:23 Lynn Examines the Scars
While putting Cole to bed, Lynn discovers rips in Cole’s sweater, and then on his back she finds evidence of fingernail scratches that she can’t explain.
She believes that the wounds were inflicted by bullies at the party, so she calls Derek’s mom and rips her a new one.
Sequence E
00:53:59 😱 Scare Sequence Begins
In the early hours of the morning, before the sun has risen, something in the house is waking up…
Cole emerges from his bedroom, it is apparent that he’s gotta use the bathroom and he’s been holding it for a long time — but he’s afraid to enter the hallway.
He finally races to the toilet to relieve himself.
00:54:39 😱 Scare Priming
The thermostat in the hallway suddenly begins dropping FAST. It is getting COLD in there.
00:54:48 ⚠️ JUMPSCARE
While Cole is peeing, someone PASSES BEHIND HIM in the hallway. The hair on his neck stands up, his breath becomes VISIBLE in the air before him.
Cole, still in his underwear and hospital band, cautiously tiptoes out into the hallway where he finds the KITCHEN LIGHT on. SOMEONE’S IN THERE.
In the doorway of the kitchen, Cole lets out a sigh of relief, he thinks it’s just his mom. He calls to her…
00:55:34 ⚠️ JUMPSCARE
IT’S NOT HIS MOM. The woman in the pink robe turns around, her face bruised and battered. She looks back at Cole with an icy rage in her eyes.
00:55:44 😱 Scary Reveal
The woman shouts at cole, “You can’t hurt me anymore!” and exposes her gored, slashed wrists.
Cole flees for his bedroom, terrified as the woman SCREAMS at him from the kitchen.
There’s a red tent in Cole’s room, filled with stolen figurines from the church. A private sanctuary. He cowers there, shivering and begging the woman to leave him alone.
00:56:15 School Play — Cole’s Sixth Appointment
Tommy acts as a narrator in a production of Tarzan. Malcolm is in the audience, waiting to see Cole.
Later in the hallway, Cole & Malcolm walk alone together.
00:57:11 😱 Scare Priming
Right as Malcolm asks Cole to tell him more about his “secret,” Malcolm discovers that Cole is no longer walking with him. He looks back over his shoulder to see Cole standing frozen about 10 paces behind him, staring up at
00:57:30 ⚠️ JUMPSCARE
Three dead people. Hung from nooses in the gymnasium just off the hallway. A white woman. A black man. A mixed race boy of about Cole’s age.
They stare at Cole, accusing.
Malcolm confesses that he can’t see anything. Cole explains it to him, tries to show him how to sense them.
“Be real still. Sometimes you feel it inside. Like you’re falling down real fast, but you’re really just standing still.”
Cole begs Malcolm to make “them” leave. Malcolm assures Cole, he’s working on it.
Sequence F
00:59:30 Cole and Lynn
Lynn pushes Cole in a shopping cart, they go real fast. It’s fun and charming.
Later at home, Cole sees Tommy’s commercial on TV. He throws his shoe at it in disgust.
Sitting down for dinner, Lynn asks Cole to confess to stealing a pendant that belonged to her mother. Cole tries, calmly and gently to explain to her that it’s not him that keeps taking it.
01:03:07 Parent Tantrum
Lynn snaps at Cole, shouting at him to leave the table. “Go!”
01:03:23 😱 Scare Priming
Cole spots the family dog fleeing from his bedroom, whimpering.
01:03:26 😱 Subtle Scare
While Cole has his back turned, a figure enters Cole’s bedroom. Cole senses it at the last second and gasps, afraid.
A second later, the figure, a young boy a few years older than Cole, emerges and whispers, “Hey c’mon. I’ll show you where my dad keeps his gun. C’mon.”
When the figure turns around again…
01:03:35 ⚠️ JUMPSCARE
We see a MASSIVE, GORY GUNSHOT CRATER in the back of the kid’s head.
01:03:45 Sebastian Hides, Cole Shakes
Lynn can’t get the dog to come out of the laundry room closet. Cole, on the verge of tears, begs to sleep in Lynn’s bed tonight.
She breaks down and embraces him, overcome with guilt about her outburst. Then, horrified, she discovers that he’s shaking like a dry leaf…
01:04:47 Anna’s Antiques
Anna sells an antique ring to an Indian couple. She suggests that heirloom pieces contain imprints left behind by the people who passed them on.
She gives her assistant a birthday gift. She knows him like he knows her. They embrace, and nearly kiss, but a
01:07:16 ⚠️ JUMPSCARE
Window breaks — the shop’s front door. Anna and her assistant don’t see the perpetrator…
Whip pan to an alley — Malcolm storms away in a jealous rage.
In V.O., Cole asks Malcolm what he wants out of their time together. Malcolm tells Cole he wants to reconnect with his wife again.
01:07:38 Cole’s Seventh Appointment
Malcolm tells Cole he needs to stop being his doctor because he doesn’t know how to help him, and he needs to find a way to spend more time with his wife before he loses her.
Cole begs him not to give up, not to fail him, because Cole believes that Malcolm may be the only one who can help him.
“How can you help me if you don’t believe me?”
01:09:03 Remembering Vincent
In light of Cole’s pleading, Malcolm revisits Vincent’s therapy tapes one more time to see if there’s anything he’s missed.
😱 Scary Reveal
Turning up the volume, he hears something he’s never heard before — a third voice on the tape, speaking Spanish. “I DON’T WANT TO DIE. PLEASE, I DON’T WANT TO DIE.”
01:12:14 Run to the Church
Malcolm finds Cole back at the church where they first spoke. Cole mocks Malcolm with his own words.
“You been running around? Make you feel better? I like to run around. It’s good exercise.”
Malcolm thinks he might know how to make the ghosts go away, even the scary ones. Listen to them, ask if they need help. Ask how you can help.
01:14:32 Sean Steers Away
Coming home from meeting Cole, Malcolm sees Anna’s assistant Sean leaving the Crowe residence and attempts to flag him down. However, Sean ignores him and speeds off.
01:15:07 Lynn Sleeptalking
Cole awakens in his sanctuary tent to hear his mother talking in her sleep. She’s having a nightmare. He goes to her and comforts her.
01:15:51 😱 Scare Priming
Returning to the tent, Cole realizes that it’s suddenly gotten VERY COLD — his breath fogging out in front of him.
Realizing that an apparition is imminent, he hurriedly begins securing the tent, whose front flap has fallen open.
01:16:16 Scare Sequence Begins
Cole enters the tent and closes the flap, submerging him in darkness.
He switches on his flashlight, and hears something moving outside…
The clothespins holding the tent together begin to SNAP OFF one by one!
01:16:29 ⚠️ JUMPSCARE — KYRA’S GHOST
The ghost of a young girl appears in the tent across from Cole, vomit dripping from her mouth. She seems to be on the verge of tears.
Cole FLEES from the tent, leaving behind a girl-shaped red sheet.
BUT…
A MOMENT LATER
He returns to his bedroom, and bravely — SO bravely — removes the sheet from the girl. She looks up at him, struggling to swallow. Finally, she speaks.
“I’m feeling much better now.”
“…Do…do you want to tell me something?”
Sequence G
01:18:09 Funeral Progression
Malcolm and Cole take a bus to attend Kyra’s funeral.
01:20:20 Foreshadowing
A funeral attendee says he heard Kyra’s younger sister is falling ill now.
Malcolm and Cole sneak upstairs, Cole prepares to enter Kyra’s room.
01:20:59 😱 Scare Priming
Cole enters Kyra’s dark room, quiet as a shadow.
01:21:40 ⚠️ JUMPSCARE
While Cole is investigating the bedroom, Kyra reaches out from under the bed and grabs his ankle!
She pushes forward a WEATHERED OLD BOX for him to see.
Cole takes it downstairs, past Kyra’s mom, to her FATHER.
The mournful man opens the box. A VHS TAPE lies inside.
01:23:54 😢 Tragic Reveal
Kyra’s father watches the tape, depicting a puppet play performed by Kyra — who seems to be rather well.
She suddenly wheels away the proscenium as her mother enters the room with lunch. The camera captures mom pouring POISON into Kyra’s soup.
The implication is clear, we’re witnessing a MURDER.
01:26:09 Bad Mother, Father
Kyra’s father confronts her mother, in front of everyone.
Outside, Cole passes on a gift from Kyra to her younger sister.
Kyra is now at rest.
01:27:09 The Stable Boy
In the backstage dressing room, a woman helps Cole put on makeup for his part in a school play. Mr. Cunningham comes to call him to the stage.
The woman is revealed to be a GHOST. Burn scars mar half of her face and body. Cole tells Mr. Cunningham he was just practising his lines…
01:28:02 Only He Who is Pure of Heart
Malcolm watches from the audience as Cole steps forward to pull Excalibur from its anvil. The crowd applauds. Hail King Arthur!
01:29:23 Cole’s Last Appointment
Malcolm congratulations Cole on his role in the play.
Cole offers Malcolm a suggestion on how to talk to his wife — wait till she’s asleep.
Malcolm knows he’s right, and that this is the end of their relationship. Cole and Malcolm struggle to say goodbye to each other.
They pretend they’re gonna see each other tomorrow.
01:31:04 Accidental Traffic
On the way home, Cole and Lynn get stuck in a traffic jam caused by a crash ahead of them.
Cole reveals to Lynn the truth of his affliction. Grandma is sorry that she keeps taking the bumblebee pendant.
“She wanted me to tell you she saw you dance.”
Sequence H
01:36:14 Malcolm & Anna
Malcolm returns home to find Anna asleep in front of the TV, watching their wedding video. He sits down and takes his chance. He talks to her, saying all the things he didn’t want to have to say out loud.
She speaks to him in her sleep, “I miss you.”
01:37:46 🤯 ANAGNORISIS
Anna drops something on the floor in her sleep — a WEDDING BAND.
Malcolm realizes IT’S HIS.
“I think I can go now. I think I just needed to help someone. I think I did. And I needed to tell you something. You were never second. Ever. I love you. You sleep now. Everything will be different in the morning.”
