The Sixth Sense spoilers ahead.
I’m sure that I’m not alone in expecting some kind of twist or surprise when watching an M. Night Shyamalan movie. Of course, when The Sixth Sense debuted in 1999, that wasn’t the case. The thriller’s ending left theater-goers reeling, and the movie’s big twist remains a popular reference today. But, the movie is so much more than that surprise. There are other reasons I consider it one of the best horror movies of all time, and why I love to rewatch it.
Bruce Willis’ child psychologist character, Malcolm Crowe, and Haley Joel Osment’s dead-people-seeing Cole Sear’s growing bond is the heart of the movie, but there are also two other relationships on display; Malcolm and his wife Anna (Olivia Williams), and Cole and his mother, Lynn (Toni Collette in one of her best movies). It’s the latter duo that I want to discuss, and specifically their final scene together.
Cole And His Mother’s Final Heartbreaking Scene
Throughout The Sixth Sense, Lynn is clearly doing her best to take care of her son as a single mom. While we’re focused mainly on Cole and Malcolm’s relationship, Lynn is constantly showing love and concern for Cole, not to mention outright fear at times over his perplexing behavior. She's also fiercely protective of him, and seems genuinely sensitive to his feelings when reacting to the strange things that are happening.
Near the end of the movie, before the reveal that Malcolm died of his gunshot wound and has unknowingly been haunting Cole all this time, we see Cole finally ready to communicate with his mother (as he literally puts it). It's a big step for him to open up to her, despite his fears that she'll think he's weird or "a freak," as he says.
While stuck in traffic due to an accident, Cole explains that a bicyclist was killed, a fact he knows because the dearly departed woman’s spirit is standing right outside their car. Just as Lynn is trying to wrap her mind around Cole’s confession that he can see ghosts, Cole goes on to deliver a message from his grandmother (Lynn’s mother). The specific information he has, both about the bumblebee pendant that keeps going missing, and the “Everyday” response Lynn’s mother has for the question Lynn asked her mother at her grave (“Do I make you proud?”) are enough to convince Lynn beyond a shadow of a doubt that her son is telling the truth.
Why It Works So Beautifully
Beyond that seemingly impossible scenario that her son can actually see and communicate with ghosts, Lynn is very clearly and emotionally processing the fact that her mother is still with her (and that she came to see Lynn dance that time after their argument when Lynn was a kid, and thought she looked like an angel). Cole's confession isn’t some bit of acting-out or made up story, it’s as real as the grief she clearly still carries with her. Her stunned, tearful reaction conveys a mixture of heartbreak and shock, with hints of what seems like relief and understanding.
The scene might not work without the insanely good performances from both Collette and Osment. It might not work without the tone and the timing and very specific setting for this conversation being exactly right. It might not work without us seeing the seemingly insurmountable distance that’s grown between Lynn and her son throughout the movie, despite their evident love for one another. It might not work without us appreciating just how desperate Lynn was to understand her son up to this point. All of those elements were where they needed to be, when they needed to be there, which is why every layer of this scene works, and why it wrecks me every time I see it.
This emotional scene is the last breath the movie takes before the big twist drops (and it's so emotional and satisfying, I'd argue that it lulls us into a false sense that the story is over... right before our mind's are blown by Malcolm's realization in the scene that follows). For Cole’s piece of the story, this confession, followed by the tearful hug, is all the assurance we need that this family of two will be ok. Decades later, the twist is still great, but so is the scene that came before it.
M. Night Shyamalan's Next Movie
The Sixth Sense certainly wouldn’t be the last time that love played a major theme in one of Shyamalan’s movies. In fact, his next film is a book-to-screen adaptation for Remain, a novel the director collaborated on with author Nicholas Sparks. Remain: A Supernatural Love Story is available for preorder now, and based on Shyamalan’s Instagram post from June 2025, the film adaptation is in production.
