History Film / TheSixthSense

** The anguish that Cole's mother goes through. Her child becomes more withdrawn, won't talk to her anymore, and inexplicably has bruises and marks show up on his skin. He even needs to be hospitalized at one point due to a severe panic attack that comes about for no apparent reason. Worse yet, she doesn't know whether it's someone they know who's abusing him, or if it's all in his head and he's doing it to ''himself''. Or even worse, her son might be a budding psychopath. Cole's drawings, his detailed descriptions of violent events, and his 'free writing' would be enough to spook any mother.

** Then there's Kyra's [[spoiler:mother poisoning her]] and her father's horrified reaction to seeing the video of it. It's also implied that the cycle would have repeated itself with [[spoiler: Kyra's younger sibling, who a funeral guest mentions is beginning to fall ill]].
** TheReveal: [[spoiler:Malcolm died in front of Anna, who was trying to treat the gunshot wound because there was no time to call for an ambulance. Anna could only hold her husband in his last moments as he tried reassuring her he felt no pain. Since then, she's spent the whole year grieving him and failing to move on from the love of her life.]]

* CreatorCameo: M. Night Shyamalan as a doctor who wrongfully believes that Lynn is abusing her son.

* DeadSparks: Malcolm and his wife. [[spoiler:Literally. All of the scenes where she seemingly is pulling an "ignoring you" scheme is just that she literally doesn't knows he's there, being a ghost and all.]]

* EmbarrassingNickname: When he was a boy, Cole's teacher was teased and called Stuttering Stanley because of his SpeechImpediment. Cole blurts it out in class one day.

** When being visited in the hospital, Cole [[spoiler:looks ''directly at Malcolm's wound'']]. This is doubly important as [[spoiler:this is what he does ''immediately'' before saying the signature line]].

** Pay attention to people's behavior whenever Malcolm is around. [[spoiler: They shiver and put on jackets, and none of them ever talk to Malcolm or acknowledge his presence -- the few times they seem to, it's deliberate misdirection and a second look will show they weren't actually acknowledging him.]]

* HappierHomeMovie: Malcolm and Anna's wedding.

* ISeeDeadPeople: [[TropeNamers Trope named]] for the line by Cole.

* KidsAreCruel: Thanks to Cole being a CreepyChild, he's bullied and hated by his peers. This turns around at the end, as seen in the play the class puts on -- Cole plays the stable boy who becomes king and the leader of the bullies plays the village idiot. Mr. Cunningham was the one who gave Cole the part in the play, the last part was just probably unintentional. So for all we know, Cole's still ostracized [[spoiler:but he's more confident about himself that slowly, but surely, he'll be more accepted with his peers]].

* LostWeddingRing: [[spoiler: Which its owner is the last person to find out about.]]

** Malcolm sees [[spoiler:his wedding ring roll from under the couch where his wife is sleeping. Then he stares at his hand and realizes it's bare. He would never take off his wedding ring unless he died; which he has]].

--> "[[TheStinger No me queiro morir...]]"

* CreatorCameo: M. Night Shyamalan as a doctor the kid sees at one point.

* ManlyTears: Malcolm sheds then when [[spoiler:he realizes he's dead and says goodbye to his wife for the last time. "You were never second."]]

** [[CreepyCrows Crows are often associated with death.]]

* OhCrap:
** The look on Kyra's mother's face when everyone finds out what she did to her own daughter. And at the daughter's wake, no less!

* ReverseRelationshipReveal: Malcolm is a child psychologist and Cole is a child who can see dead people. Malcolm suggests to Cole that he is supposed to help the dead people find their path to the afterlife and let go of their earthly concerns. It turns out that Malcolm is dead and Cole is helping him find his path to the afterlife.

Osment was nominated for an UsefulNotes/AcademyAward for his role in the film, and the film was nominated for five others, including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Original Screenplay, with no wins.

** TheReveal: [[spoiler:Malcolm died in front of Anna, who was trying to treat the gunshot wound because there was no time to call for an ambulance. Anna could only hold her husband in his last moments as he tried reassuring her he felt no pain. Since then, she's spent the whole year grieving him and failing to move on from the love of her life]].

* BittersweetEnding: More on the sweet side than bitter. [[spoiler: Cole will never be able to stop seeing the dead, but finds a way to live with it by helping ghosts with their problems and helping them pass on.]] As for Malcolm, [[spoiler:he's revealed to be DeadAllAlong. However, he finds solace is knowing that he's done with his UnfinishedBusiness and manages to tell his wife that he loves her before passing on.]]

* ColourCodedForYourConvenience: The color red appears often in the film to show their importance: the red doors of the church, the ruby knob of the basement door, a red outfit...

* CutHimselfShaving: Subverted. Cole [[spoiler: is repeatedly assaulted by ghosts]]. People assume he's abused by his mother, and she can't figure out what's happening to him.

* {{Determinator}}: Despite her grisly death and throwing up at first, Kyra is determined to talk to Cole and ask for his help. [[spoiler:It's because she wanted to give her father the videotape that showed her mother poisoning her lunch, and a puppet to her little sister]].

* EveryoneHasStandards: The people who see Kyra's last videotape at her funeral give a unanimous DeathGlare at [[spoiler:her mother when they see the evidence that Mrs. Collins was poisoning her]].

** If you pay close attention, [[spoiler: Creator/BruceWillis's character always wears something he was wearing the day he was shot.]]

** The color red pops up whenever there is something supernatural going on -- people wear red, objects in the environment are red, and several of the ghosts wear something red. This not only allows viewers to anticipate the appearances of ghosts before they happen by noticing the scene has a lot of red things in it, but also hints to [[spoiler:TheReveal about Malcolm -- his wife frequently wears red and the doorknob to his office is red.]]

** [[spoiler: The door to Malcolm's basement, where he stores his tapes and other information from his cases is ''repeatedly locked'' whenever he tries to open it. He always has to fumble around for the key, but we never actually see him find it and open the door. When he finally starts to realize what's going on, he looks at the door and sees it's not only locked, it actually has a desk with books on top blocking it shut.]]

* GhostlyChill: The presence of ghosts cause rooms to get colder and anybody nearby to shiver, [[spoiler:like anytime [[DeadAllAlong Malcolm]] is around]].
* HateSink: [[spoiler: Kyra's mother, who repeatedly poisoned her with floor cleaner to gain sympathy, and is implied to be doing the same thing with her younger sister.]]
* HappierHomeMovie: Malcolm's wedding.

* JacobMarleyApparel: All the ghosts wear what they had on when they died. [[spoiler:Malcolm isn't the exception; throughout the movie he is wearing items that he had with him that night. We never see the gunshot wound because he is wearing his jacket over his shirt or the camera angles just don't reveal it when he has it off.]]

* KidsAreCruel: Thanks to Cole being a CreepyChild, he's bullied and hated by his peers. This turns around at the end, as seen in the play the class puts on - Cole plays the stableboy who becomes king and the leader of the bullies plays the village idiot. Mr. Cunningham was the one who gave Cole the part in the play, the last part was just probably unintentional. So for all we know, Cole's still ostracized [[spoiler:but he's more confident about himself that slowly, but surely, he'll be more accepted with his peers.]]
* TheLostLenore: A rare male example of the trope in that [[spoiler: Malcolm's wife isn't surly and depressed over a neglectful husband. She's grieving for a dead one.]]

* MadeOfIron: Seems to play it straight with Malcolm Crowe - he's shot in the stomach, which in RealLife is a death sentence - but is seen walking around just fine the next fall. [[spoiler:Then it is subverted in the end - it turns out that he doesn't make it after all.]]
* MajorInjuryUnderreaction: Justified; when Malcolm [[spoiler:is dying, he tells Anna he's fine and doesn't feel any pain. It was his body giving out to blood loss and shock]].

** {{Lampshaded}} when Malcolm is telling a bed time story to the kid.
* ManlyTears: Malcolm sheds then when [[spoiler:he realizes he's dead and says goodbye to his wife for the last time. "You were never second"]].

** Crows are often associated with death.

* MoodWhiplash: Kyra's funeral is quite a ride. Her father is grieving as Cole comes up to him and gives him a videotape. Cole says that Kyra wanted him to watch it. The video starts with Kyra doing a silly puppet show, and her dad Mr. Collins smiles sadly because he has one last recorded memory of her being a quirky kid. Then [[spoiler:Kyra hides the camera, and her mother comes in, clearly putting floor cleaner into the little girl's soup. Kyra's dad is now sad ''and'' horrified]].

** The look on Kyra's mother's face when everyone finds out what she did to her own daughter. And at the daughter's wake no less!
** Malcolm has this reaction when he realizes [[spoiler:he died a year ago, and that he's been walking around as a ghost]].

* PlotHole: Before Malcolm meets Cole for the first time, he's looking at his notes on Cole. The notes describe how his first meeting with him took place in a church- an event that has not yet happened.

* ReturningTheWeddingRing: Malcolm's wife drops a wedding ring and lets it roll across the floor to signify the end of their marriage. [[spoiler:The ring is actually his, and of course the fact he's dead was the real reason the marriage ended]].
* TheReveal: [[spoiler:Malcolm is dead. His wife isn't [[MistakenForCheating cheating on him]], she's trying to move on, and she doesn't respond to what he says to her because she doesn't know he's even there]].

* RuleOfSymbolism: The color red. Pay close attention to any scene with red in it. [[{{Foreshadowing}} It means something important]]. [[spoiler:The fact that Kyra's mother is dressed in red, as if she's going to a dinner party or get together, instead of a funeral, should tip the viewer off to the fact that she is an AttentionWhore who deliberately kept her daughter sick and ended up killing her.]]

* SassyBlackWoman: Malcolm's wife's friend on their wedding video. It's a bit jarring.
* ScareChord: More subtle than in some movies but definitely there.

* SexlessMarriage: Malcolm and Anna's marriage gets progressively strained and distant. If you've seen the movie, you know why.

* SomethingOnlyTheyWouldSay: This is how Cole [[spoiler:demonstrates his medium powers to his mother, by repeating several things that only his grandmother's ghost would know about.]]
* StevenUlyssesPerhero: Cole '''Sear'''. As in '''Seer'''.

* TheStinger: After the credits, the panicked Spanish ghost from Malcolm's tape is heard saying "No me quiero morir"[[note]]I don't want to die[[/note]] one more time. Doubles as a LastNoteNightmare.

* SympatheticAdulterer: Malcolm's wife seems to be cheating on him which pisses him off. Yet they seem to be fighting for most of the movie, and Malcolm's temper has run thin. [[spoiler:Subverted as he is dead and she is just extremely depressed and looking for solace. Malcolm has a JerkassRealization on his face when he realizes]].
* TakeThat: ''"Silence, Village Idiot!"''

* ThereAreNoTherapists: A very interesting aversion. [[spoiler: From the standpoint of everyone else in the movie, Cole does ''not'' have a therapist. But he does. Stands out the most notably when the doctor is having Cole checked to see if he is being abused, and Malcolm is just sitting there - when a real therapist would surely be adding his two cents.]]
* TokenGoodTeammate: Subverted with [[spoiler:Malcolm]]. Cole thinks he's the only one that hasn't tried to hurt him. [[spoiler:He and Malcolm eventually figure out that ghosts don't want to hurt Cole, but are trying to reach out for his help and react defensively because they don't see him. Malcolm happened to be the only one that was a child psychologist]].
* TomatoInTheMirror: [[spoiler:Malcolm only figures out that he's been DeadAllAlong until the last five minutes or so of the film.]]

* TryingNotToCry: In the ending, Cole has tears in his eyes as he is giving Malcolm advice about how to talk to his wife. [[spoiler:He knows that once Malcolm realizes that he's dead that Malcolm will move on, and Cole will never see him again]].
* UndeadChild: The ghost of Kyra, the poisoned girl.
* UnfinishedBusiness: Most ghosts have it. [[spoiler: Malcolm has two pieces of it: first, to be sure his wife knows how he felt about her; second, to help Cole, a child troubled with exactly the problem that he failed to handle well when another child had it.]]
* UnseenNoMore: Cole, the TropeNamer for ISeeDeadPeople, discusses his ability to see ghosts, but it isn't until halfway through the film we get to see the ghosts. That is, unless you count [[spoiler: Malcolm]], who was a ghost the whole time.

* WeirdnessCensor: A variant: it applies to the ghosts. "They see what they want to see," doing the same things they did in life. And they don't see each other [[spoiler: which is another hint to the twist.]]

* WouldHarmAChild: [[spoiler:Kyra's mother is revealed to have been secretly poisoning her over a long period of time merely to gain [[ItsAllAboutMe sympathy and attention]] from others. The fact that she's shown wearing bright red at the funeral service while everyone else is in proper mourning black further proves how little she cares about anyone [[LackOfEmpathy but herself]].]]

** Then there's Kyra's [[spoiler:mother poisoning her]] and her father's horrified reaction to seeing the video of it...

* SexlessMarriage: Malcolm and Anna. If you've seen the movie, you know why.

* AfterlifeAngst: Malcolm Crowe examines himself, finally notices his forgotten gunshot wound, and slumps against the wall, visibly shaken by the conclusion he's drawn from this and other clues. He didn't survive getting shot in the gut at the beginning of the movie after all. He's been a ghost the whole time he was talking to Cole Sear.

* FamousLastWords: [[spoiler: "It doesn't hurt at all anymore."]]

->''"I see dead people."''
-->-- '''Cole'''

* MadeOfIron: Seems to play it straight with Malcolm Crowe - he's shot in the stomach, which in RealLife is a death sentence - but is seen walking around just fine the next fall. [[spoiler:Then it is subverted in the end - it turns out that [[RealityEnsues reality ensued]] after all.]]

* RealityEnsues: TheReveal tells us what happened with Malcolm: [[spoiler:his wife tried to staunch the blood from his gunshot wound with her bare hands on thinking it's coming from his stomach. Then she sees the blood pooling from his back and uncovers a ''bigger'' wound. Anna starts sobbing helplessly, knowing she can't save him in time for an ambulance to come]].

** The outfit worn by Mrs. Collins at Kyra's wake is bright red, and she is the only person wearing a bright color. ** In the video, the soup Mrs. Collins brings to Kyra is tomato soup, and the bottle of pine cleaner Mrs. Collins adds to the soup has a red cap on it.

** Cole's "free association" writing is in red ink; the writing presumably records things he has heard from the dead. ** At the birthday party, all the visible balloons are pastel-colored, except for the red balloon that floats up the stairway and leads Cole to the small closet.

** Malcolm sees [[spoiler:his wedding ring roll from under the couch where his wife is sleeping. Then he stares at his hand and realizes it's bare. He would never take off his wedding ring unless he died; which he was]].

* YourCheatingHeart: Malcolm's wife seems to be cheating on him which pisses him off. [[spoiler:Subverted as he is dead and she is just extremely depressed and looking for solace.]]

* StockUnderwear: Played for extra-creepy: Vincent spends his entire scene (barging into Malcolm's home on a complete breakdown and committing MurderSuicide because Malcolm couldn't help him) dressed only in socks and tighty-whitey briefs.

** Cole encounters a ghost of a pre-teen boy who had showed his friend his father's gun and accidentally shot himself, and we see the wound in the back of his head.

* OhCrap: The look on Kyra's mother's face when everyone finds out what she did to her own daughter. And at the daughter's wake no less!

** Good Lord, the anguish that Cole's mother goes through. Her child becomes more withdrawn, won't talk to her anymore, and inexplicably has bruises and marks show up on his skin. He even needs to be hospitalized at one point due to a severe panic attack that comes about for no apparent reason. Worse yet, she doesn't know whether it's someone they know who's abusing him, or if it's all in his head and he's doing it to ''himself''. Or even worse, her son might be a budding psychopath. Cole's drawings, his detailed descriptions of violent events, and his 'free writing' would be enough to spook any mother.

* ForgottenAnniversary: Malcolm shows up late to an anniversary dinner with his wife at a fancy restaurant; she barely acknowledges him before leaving. [[spoiler:Kind of hard to acknowledge someone you can't see or hear. You know. 'Cause he's dead and all.]]
* GhostlyChill: The presence of ghosts cause rooms to get colder and anybody nearby to shiver. [[spoiler:Like anytime Malcolm is around.]]

* [[IAmNotLeonardNimoy I Am Not Haley Joel Osment]]: Many people tend to refer to Cole by his actor.

* TheLostLenore: A rare male example of the trope in that [[ItWasHisSled Surprise!]] [[spoiler: Malcolm's wife isn't surly and depressed over a neglectful husband. She's grieving for a dead one.]]

* HateSink: [[spoiler: Kyra's mother, who repeatedly poisoned her with floor cleaner to gain sympathy, and is implied to be doing the same thing with her younger sister]]

* TheStinger: After the credits, the panicked Spanish ghost from Malcolm's tape is heard saying "No me quiero morir" one more time. Doubles as a LastNoteNightmare.

* OhCrap: The look on Kyra's mother's face when now everyone knows what she did to her own daughter.