The Sixth Sense (1999) - 9 questions

Question: If Malcolm is dead how does Cole's mother see him in the movie?

Answer: The answer is simple: she doesn't. If you watch the movie carefully, you'll note that the only one who actually ever acknowledges Malcolm's presence is Cole. For the rest of the movie, you only assume that everyone sees or acknowledges Malcolm simply because of the way the scenes are shot. When a scene starts by showing Malcolm sitting in a room with Cole's mother, we as a movie-going public have been trained to assume that means they have been talking. However, we never actually see that happen.

Question: Why does the female ghost in Cole's house keep on opening the drawers and cupboards?

Answer: She lived in the house and is repeating actions she took so many times during her life, as if trying to relive it.

Question: I'm unclear about the mother of the young girl who died. Did she intentionally kill her daughter or was it accidental? That is, was this supposed to be a Munchhausen by Proxy Disorder situation where the mother only intended to keep her daughter sick enough so she was under constant medical supervision?

Answer: At best, it was Munchhausen by Proxy. However, it could have been a well-planned murder of one, and then the other child. But the mother's reaction when everyone is looking at her seems a little more mental than criminal.

Question: Maybe this is just an assumption of mine, but since Malcolm is dead why can't he see the other dead people, ie the three hanging in the school?

Answer: There's never any indication that the dead can see each other unless they died at the same time from the same cause. Only Cole can interact with the dead, and his presence allows them to interact with the real world to some extent.

Question: What happened to Cole in the room that he got locked in at the party? We hear the ghost but as far as we saw during the movie, none of the ghosts actually hurt Cole, physically at least, so what could've happened to him?

Answer: Either the ghost could have somehow hurt him physically (just because we don't see the others doing this, that doesn't mean that some wouldn't or couldn't) or since Cole was so scared, thrashing around and trying to escape, he ended up cutting himself on something in the room.

Question: Does anyone know why in pictures Cole always had a streak of light above his head?

Answer: That sparkle represented the dead people who were always hanging around Cole. Being in his presence, with his power to interact with the dead, caused them to have a physical signal to a perceiver of absolute truth: a camera.

Question: Through most of the film Malcolm is dead. All the other ghosts still have scars from how they died but why doesn't Malcolm have his mark which should be a bullet wound?

Answer: As we see at the end of the film, he does have it, but the only seriously visible sign of the damage is on his back, which is either out of shot or covered by something thick enough not to show the blood throughout the film. The only damage to his front would be the entry wound. There'd be little or no blood leakage from that wound, as Malcolm fell on his back when shot - simple gravity would do the rest - and the bullet hole itself is covered by whatever he's wearing.

Question: Does Cole know for the whole movie that Malcolm is dead? If he does, why isn't he afraid of him like he is of the other dead people in the movie?

Answer: It is certainly up to debate but it is assumed that he does know. Cole says a few times "You're not like the others, you're nice". Malcolm presumes this means other doctors but it is obvious that cole meant not like other ghosts. As for Cole being afraid... Well Malcolm certainly didn't act like the other ghost and didn't have half of his head blown off or his wrists slit, or walk around screaming that the cabinets must be left open.

Question: If Malcolm was dead, how did he know all about Cole, and that he needed help? Where did he get all the info?

Answer: The dead need to finish things on Earth before they can move on. In Malcolm's case, he needs to help Cole - making up for his failure to help Vincent Grey. In order to do this, he needs the relevant information, so it is supplied to him by whatever agency controls these things. As the dead are unaware of their condition, Malcolm receives the information as if it were another case file for him to work on.