Question: When the video of the dead girl is played at her funeral it shows her mom adding something to her soup. What was she adding to the girl's soup?
raywest
13th Sep 2021
The Sixth Sense (1999)
7th May 2021
The Sixth Sense (1999)
Question: Is the kitchen ghost woman the mother of gunshot boy?
Answer: Highly unlikely. The ghosts are there because they have unfinished business regarding their deaths. The woman you see is raging about having a lousy husband, she was probably abused and possibly killed by him. That has nothing to do with the boy that shot himself.
She killed herself. Remember, she shows her slit writs and says 'Look what you made me do!'
13th Oct 2020
The Sixth Sense (1999)
Question: In order not to spoil the plot twist it seems as though Malcolm and Anna's marriage is strained, i.e. him standing Anna up on their anniversary saying he went to a different restaurant, etc. Was their marriage potentially/actually strained anyway because of him trying to help Vincent and seemingly repeating history with Cole? Malcolm notes the comparison out loud, thinking Anna can hear him and is ignoring him.
Answer: It appears their marriage was happy, though any married couple experiences ups and downs, and doctors particularly have demanding professions that can affect their family life. However, Anna's reaction, as we see it in the movie, is the direct result of her extreme grief over Malcolm's death. It is only from Malcolm's altered perception that it appears there is a marital rift.
Answer: There certainly couldn't be any strain due to Malcolm's repeating history by helping Cole, because he's doing that post-mortem, so to speak. Anna knows Malcolm is dead, so no, no strain due to his helping Cole.
I'm starting to think this is actually an element that Mr. Shyamalan (sp?) added as a way of explaining Malcolm's reaction to Anna's behavior toward him at the restaurant. Malcolm has to believe that something he's done wrong is bothering Anna, because the alternative is that she doesn't hear him and doesn't see him. And if Malcolm thought that, then we'd have a whole different movie, with Malcolm waving his arms and shouting, doing whatever, to get her attention, etc etc. So it works as a way to keep Malcolm in ignorance or denial, and it also shows the two of them together to the audience, hopefully keeping us from catching on to the twist. Brilliant.
3rd Aug 2020
The Sixth Sense (1999)
Question: How come Malcolm could realise he was dead, but none of the other ghosts could?
Answer: Ghosts can't move on until they've completed some unfinished business. Malcolm felt guilty for not helping the kid who shot him. By helping Cole control his powers, he was finally at peace and realised the true state of things.
To add: the little girl Cole helped uncover her murder definitely knew she was dead.
Why do you say she knew? I didn't see any evidence. Cole says ghosts don't know they're dead. The girl wasn't after revenge, but to protect her younger sister, who the mother had started poisoning.
She is one of the few ghosts aware that she can use Cole to help her out. Leading him to the evidence of her murder shows to me she knew she was too late for herself. At the end of the movie it is even revealed that these ghosts probably unconsciously approach Cole for help, so they can move on. They can't do that unless they are aware, or if Cole makes them aware of it. For Malcolm it was even necessary for him to know he was dead before he could say his goodbye. Cole just needs to tell them.
Answer: On top of it, Malcolm only realised he was dead when we saw his wedding ring drop from his wife's hand (he would have had it on him except if he were gone) and he saw her cold breath; these two things together helped him put all the pieces together (that we are shown in the movie) to show that she was grieving and mourning from his death and not that they were growing apart because he was wrapped up in a case (or to put it differently, he was so wrapped up in Cole that he did not notice that he hadn't had a conversation with his wife or even another human being for goodness knows how long - dead people see what they want to see).
Answer: Malcolm didn't realise he was dead until much later in the movie. By then he had a strong relationship with Cole, and being a psychiatrist, wanted to help him understand and cope with his ability and no longer fear it. Being a psychiatrist helped Malcolm analyse his own situation and work out that he had died. Once Cole was comfortable with his ability, Malcolm was able to move on. Also, as Cole noted, ghosts only saw what they wanted to see. Some were unable to come to terms with their deaths and therefore remained among the living.
10th Aug 2017
The Sixth Sense (1999)
Question: Why was Vincent (the guy who shot Malcolm) in his underwear? Couldn't he have shot Malcolm wearing his clothes?
Answer: It is actually explained in the bonus features of the movies, it goes something along the lines of: he saw dead people for so long that he tried to hide from them by wearing different types of cloths. When he decides to commit suicide, this is the end. There was no need to wear something to hide who he is. He wore nothing at all, as if to be free, or to show that he doesn't want to be afraid any more.
Answer: May be to show the scars on his body given by ghosts.
5th Aug 2015
The Sixth Sense (1999)
Question: Since Vincent (Malcolm's ex patient who shot him) can also see ghosts, is there any connection with him and Cole or is it just an amazing coincidence?
Answer: There is no direct connection between Cole and Vincent, and it is not really a coincidence. Cole and Vincent did not know each other, but they shared the same ability to see and hear ghosts. After Malcolm was shot and killed, he sought out Cole without understanding that he himself was dead. Vincent was Malcolm's patient and had been deeply troubled because he also saw ghosts. Malcolm is somehow driven to find and help Cole understand and to accept his ability to see and speak to the deceased.
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Answer: She was adding some type of poisonous household substance over an extended period of time. It appears the mother suffered from Munchausen By Proxy syndrome, a psychological disorder where a parent knowingly makes and keeps their child (or some other relative) sick. The parent usually does not intend to kill the child, but they have become addicted to the attention and drama of interacting with doctors, other medical personnel and being at the hospital. In this case, the daughter died.
raywest ★
To add, she was feeding her daughter an industrial disinfectant and detergent called Nu-Pine (for wooden floors). She gave small doses which slowly poison the body, causing organ failure over time.
lionhead
That is just an assumption. It's just as plausible that the mother intended to kill the girl, but was doing it slowly so as not to attract attention. That's how I've always interpreted it.