MovieChat Forums > The Sixth Sense (1999) Discussion > One small cheat?

One small cheat?

posted 7 months ago by blindfolded (1618)
3 replies | jump to latest

We all agree this one, as far as twists go is pretty air tight.

And I think it's pretty much universally agreed that by the end we understand that Cole knew Malcolm's true nature all along.

But when Cole is having his confession with Malcolm in the hospital, I believe there is one instance of dialog that was inserted in to toss us off the scent. Cole makes Malcolm promise to never tell anyone his secret. We read this the first time as "Don't tell my mom." But if Cole knew all along, he wouldn't feel compelled to make Malcolm keep his secret. I think this is the one thing on re-watch that I feel Is a small cheat.

[–] Stratego (30494) 4 months ago

I personally saw it as a test from Cole to see if Malcolm was someone trustworthy who was sincere in trying to help him. But also, if Malcolm had said he would tell his mother, there wasn't much he further could've done to help Cole. The mother would not have been responsive and he might've given up.

That said, Shyamalan was careful to phrase the dialogue in a way that wouldn't give away the twist, probably making it feel less natural.

[–] PaladinNJ (21509) 4 months ago

I think the premise is that he knew Malcolm wasn't aware of his nature so he told him what Malcolm would expect to hear.

PS: of course, this is 20-20 hindsight since we already know the ending.

[–] HellFire (561) 3 months ago

The whole film's a cheat.

He hasn't eaten, drank, washed, gone to the toilet, interacted with anyone for ages and he doesn't realise something strange is going on? Shyamalan tried desperately to get around this by making sure he wrote:

"They only see what they want to see".

But if they only see what they want to see why does Malcolm know he's having marriage problems? Surely he'd be thinking everything's fine and wouldn't want to see his wife's anti-depressants?

Then he tried his best to disguise the fact that he's a ghost by having him be allowed to wear the clothes he was wearing the night he died so that the audience don't just see him constantly wearing the same blue shirt and trousers. But how does that work? Did his coat, jumper, and scarf just vanish after he died? If they remain physically there, shouldn't they be hovering around when he's walking around with them on?