7 Ghosts Cole Sees In The Sixth Sense Explained

M. Night Shyamalan The Sixth Sense causes 9-year-old medium Cole Sear to see several ghosts throughout the film, but their stories aren’t always completely clear. Considered one of M. Night Shyamalan’s best films to date, The Sixth Sense follows child psychologist Malcolm Crowe (Bruce Willis) as he seeks redemption after failing a client while helping 9-year-old Cole. Malcolm realizes he has taken on more responsibility than he bargained for when Cole reveals he can see and talk to dead people, but by embracing this ability, Malcolm and Cole help each other solve their problems and find new meaning in life.

Much is made of The Sixth SenseCole’s famous twist ending, but in reality, this is a small aspect of the film compared to Cole’s interactions with ghosts. All over The Sixth SenseCole comes into contact with many dead people, which has a major effect on his ability to communicate and relate to the living. However, with Malcolm’s help, Cole eventually overcomes his fear of the ghosts visiting him and is able to help them find closure, culminating in Cole helping Malcolm come to terms with his own death as well.

7

The Lady in the Pink Robe

Cause of death: apparent abuse

The first physical ghost Cole sees in The Sixth Sense is a lady wearing a pink robe (she appears at Cole’s house). She is first seen walking down the hallway while Cole is using the bathroom, which piques Cole’s interest and leads him to follow her downstairs. Cole initially thinks the lady is his mother, but when she turns around, it becomes clear that she is not his mother, but a ghost.

When the lady turns and starts talking, she is not addressing Cole, but rather someone she calls.Neddy,” which, based on the context, was likely the husband she believes she was arguing with. Angrily, she informs him that “dinner is not ready,” and a close-up of her face reveals that she has faded bruises on her eyes, which seems to suggest that “Neddy” was abusing her.

She then claims that her husband can’t hurt her anymore, and she reveals several wounds on her wrists that were hidden under her sleeves. This sight scares Cole and causes him to run away to hide in his tent, ending the encounter.

6

The boy with the head injury

Cause of death: gunshot

Not long after Cole’s encounter with the ghost wearing the pink robe, he sees another specter in his house. After a fight with his mother, Cole sees the ghost of a boy a little older than him, wearing 1970s clothing, standing in a doorway at the end of the hallway. The boy whispers to Cole that he will show Cole where his “daddy puts away his gun.” When the boy turns around, it is revealed that he has a serious head injury, which is undoubtedly the cause of his death. Terrified, Cole leaves to seek comfort from his mother, Lynn.

5

Kyra Collins

Cause of death: poisoning

Kyra Collins is the first ghost Cole sees after Malcolm suggests that Cole should try to help the ghosts he sees instead of being afraid of them. She first appears in Cole’s tent with him, vomiting vomit. Although initially scared, Cole eventually approaches Kyra, and she tells him “I feel much better now.” The scene ends with Cole asking if Kyra has anything to tell him, but unlike the previous ghosts in The Sixth SenseThis isn’t Cole’s final meeting with Kyra.

Later, Cole and Malcolm attend Kyra’s funeral, where it is revealed that Kyra has been ill and bedridden for the past two years. In Kyra’s room, Cole meets her spirit once again, where she gives him a box to give to his father. Inside the box is a videotape that inadvertently captured that Kyra was not actually sick, but had Munchausen Syndrome by proxy caused by her mother poisoning Kyra’s food.

After helping Mr. Collins bring closure, Cole also does the same to Kyra’s younger sister. Kyra Collins is ultimately one of The Sixth Senseof the most important ghosts, as she helps Cole to no longer be afraid of his abilities.

4

The lady burned in the theater

Cause of Death: Fire

Before Cole took the stage in his class production, King Arthurhe is seen talking to a middle-aged woman. When his teacher, Mr. Cunningham, comes to pick Cole up for the play, the lady tells Cole that they “I have to hurry” before getting up from his chair and leaving. When the lady turns to look at Cole once more, the film reveals that the lady has a serious burn on half of her face. Confused, Mr. Cunningham asks who Cole was talking to, but Cole lies and says he was going over his lines.

As they head to the stage, Mr. Cunningham tells Cole that there once was a huge fire in that section of the theater. Because of the fire, according to Cunningham, the entire theater had to be rebuilt, which Cole says he already knows. Mr. Cunningham’s anecdote about the theater fire implies that the ghost Cole was talking to was probably a teacher at the school who was a victim of the fire.but The Sixth Sense does not confirm this explicitly.

The theater lady is another significant ghost for Cole, as she is the first one he appears to be unafraid of.

3

The car accident victim

Cause of death: car accident

Near the end of The Sixth SenseCole and his mother are stuck in traffic because of a car accident. Cole takes the opportunity to reveal to his mother his ability to see and interact with ghosts, using the car accident as an example.. In response to his mother’s earlier hopes that no one would be injured in the accident, Cole informs her that this was not true and that he could see her standing outside the passenger window.

Briefly, a woman wearing cycling gear is seen outside Cole’s window, with blood running down her face, thus corroborating Cole’s claims to the audience.

2

Cole’s grandmother

Cause of death: unknown

One of The Sixth SenseThe most significant ghost of is the one that never appears on screen. A source of tension between Cole and his mother throughout the film is the fact that she keeps finding a bee pendant that belonged to Cole’s grandmother on Cole’s desk. Lynn assumes Cole is stealing the pendant and tries to get him to confess, but Cole claims he didn’t take it. Even though this scene happens halfway through The Sixth Sensethe real reason the bee pendant keeps disappearing is not revealed until the end.

As Cole tries to tell his mother about his abilities, she doesn’t believe he can see ghosts at first, so he changes tack and tries to tell her that he saw his grandmother. This initially angers Lynn, who thinks Cole is lying, but once Cole tells her details about an incident from his childhood that he had no way of knowing, she finally believes him..

Cole reveals that it was his grandmother who kept taking the pendant.”because she liked it,” and that Cole’s grandmother is proud of Lynn. The two Sears tearfully embrace, bringing a moving conclusion to their arc.

1

Malcolm Crowe

Cause of death: gunshot

Although Bruce Willis’ Malcolm Crowe is technically the first physical ghost Cole sees in The Sixth Sensehe is the last to be revealed. After their first meeting in a church, Malcolm becomes extremely interested in Cole’s case, as he sees Cole as an opportunity to make amends for his failure with Vincent Gray (The Sixth Sense the director cast Donnie Wahlberg in the role).

Throughout the film, Malcolm helps Cole not see himself as a “insane”And learn how to use your ghostly gifts for good, like you did with Kyra Collins’ family. Cole and Malcolm last saw each other after Cole King Arthur play, where Cole suggests that Malcolm try talking to his wife while she sleeps.

Malcolm accepts Cole’s suggestion and has a heart-to-heart with his wife Anna, but when she drops her wedding ring, Malcolm finally puts the pieces together and realizes that he has been dead for most of this time. The Sixth Sense. This epiphany helps Malcolm finally find peace and closure with his wife and his work, and the film’s ending implies that Malcolm transitions to the afterlife.

Although Malcolm realizes that he is a ghost on his own, Cole helps get him to that point, showing that Cole helped Malcolm as much as Malcolm helped Cole throughout the process. The Sixth Sense.

How The Sixth Sense Portrayed Ghosts Compared to Other Films

The Sixth Sense holds a place as one of the greatest ghost films of all time. While the spooky atmosphere and iconic feel can certainly be seen as adding to that reputation, so is the effectiveness of how the film presents ghosts. This is an element that has been present in horror films for decades, since the first films ever made, and there are a variety of ways in which ghosts are portrayed, so it can be difficult to find a new approach.

Although some films occasionally reuse the tried and true version of the white spectral entity with trembling voices, as seen in some of the earlier versions of A Christmas songthis type of ghost has gone out of fashion. Of course it would never have worked for The Sixth Sense as the film relies on the audience not being able to immediately recognize a ghost just by looking at it. Instead of, The Sixth SenseThe film’s version of ghosts feels like something that sits squarely in the real world.

Another element that the film uses is that these ghosts retain the injuries that resulted in their deaths. This is something that was also used in Beetle juicealbeit in an exaggerated and comical way. The Sixth Sense uses this to heighten Cole’s terror of witnessing these horrible beings. However, also important for the twists, The Sixth Sense makes it clear that most of these ghosts don’t even know they’re dead, tragically clinging to the life they once had.

This tragic element of ghosts highlights what is most unique about The Sixth Senseof the ghosts, which is why the film humanizes them. Similar to Patrick Swayze in Ghost, Malcolm is a character in the film who has something he needs to do. He is not haunting people, but simply living life as before, trying to fix something he failed to do. A ghost story is another film that fits this approach, depicting the journey of a ghost watching the world change around him after his death, while he is left as an observer.

While ghosts have long been easy devices in horror films to scare the audience, finding a way to make the audience care about a ghost character and give them a true arc is one of the underrated elements of horror films. The Sixth Sense.