First Things First…
This was the first DVD I ever watched when I got a DVD player for my birthday in April of 2000. The movie hadn’t been out a full year yet, but it was so widely known for its twist ending that I was amazed I managed to not have it spoiled.
Sadly, I didn’t figure out the twist—though the breadcrumbs are so obvious on a rewatch—and it blew me away.
I’ve seen the movie one or two times since then, and it’s still great. To me, it might be the best ghost movie ever.
4 Things I Like
4. Complementary Scares
Even though this is a horror movie and a thriller, it’s also a family drama and a love story. It’s not all about the scares at every turn.
That said, there’s an ominous feeling throughout the movie. I think that’s because, after an upsetting opening scene, featuring a harrowing performance from Donnie Wahlberg, and the main character getting shot in his own bedroom, we meet Cole. And he’s afraid for most of the movie. That left me with a constant sense of unease and made the movie feel scarier than what was actually on the screen most of the time.
But there are some legitimate scares when we start meeting the ghosts. The first is a ghost we only hear—because it’s clear when Cole gets locked in the “dungeon” at the birthday party, the angry voice he heard coming from inside that closet must’ve been a ghost. That scene is even more terrifying because we don’t see what happens to Cole, we just hear him screaming and pounding on the door.
Eventually, we do see some of the ghosts Cole sees. And this is also scary, even when the ghosts aren’t violent. Take Kyra, the little puking girl. She just wants Cole’s help. But she’s the one who infiltrates his fortress in his bedroom and scares the shit out of him.
Some of the others have clear injuries, like the boy with half his head blown off. There are also the people who were hanged at the school. It’s all scary. But the scares are complementary to the story.
3. Cole’s Mom Is a Saint
Cole’s mom, Lynn, has to keep things together for their little family of two.
Her husband left her, and Cole has deep-seated trauma that he refuses to communicate with her about. She works two jobs and can’t be there for him constantly. She’s clearly trying her best and loves him so deeply but seems at her wit’s end.
Her warmth comes through often, though. And it’s never more apparent than after she sent Cole away from the table without dinner because she thought he was lying to her. That night, he asks if she’s not very mad, could he sleep in her bed. She’s overcome with emotion as she realizes how afraid he is.
Toni Collette gives a stellar performance that earned her an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress.
2. From Helpless to Hopeful
“I see dead people.”
Cole Sear
Cole is easy to feel for. His fear is palpable. You see it in the way he runs to and from the bathroom… hides in his tent and in church… and especially in his tears, sobs, and screams as he faces his nightmare alone.
He feels both helpless and hopeless because, until he meets and learns to trust Malcolm, he can’t share his secret with anyone. He’s especially unwilling to tell his mom, because he can’t bear the idea of her thinking he’s a freak, the way everyone else around him does.
But despite the horrors Cole has to endure, and the fact that there’s no cure for his sixth sense, I love that Malcolm helps him find a hopeful way to reframe it. That if he just listens to the ghosts that visit him, he can help them move on and find peace. And maybe even help others in the process—like Kyra’s little sister, who likely would’ve met the same fate as Kyra if Cole didn’t get the incriminating videotape and give it to the girls’ dad.
As much as I love Cole’s arc, you can’t separate it from the performance. It’s one of the best child actor performances I’ve ever seen. Haley Joel Osment also got nominated for an Oscar. And he delivers one of the most iconic lines in movie history.
1. Revelations
Despite feeling a little foolish that I didn’t pick up on the twist before it’s revealed the first time I saw this movie, it’s masterfully done. And it still raises the hair on my arms, watching all the clues back again in that final scene as Malcolm realizes he’s dead. All those times he spoke to or sat with someone—his wife, Cole’s mom, his wife’s new suitor—it didn’t occur to me that they never interact with him.
But that’s not the only memorable revelation.
There’s also Cole telling his mom his secret as they’re stuck in traffic. She struggles to accept what he tells her at first but still makes it clear that she doesn’t think anything bad about him. And when he tells her that his grandma—her mother—visits him, and he passes on her message, that’s the most emotional scene in the movie.
Finally, the revelation of Kyra’s mom as her killer is a memorable scene, too. It’s the first time Cole uses his gift for good. And even though it’s still somber, because little Kyra is dead, seeing someone monstrous get caught is incredibly fulfilling.
Most movies don’t have any unforgettable scenes, and they’re lucky to have one. This movie has three that have stayed with me for 25 years now.
0 Things I’m Mixed On
1 Thing I Don’t Like
1. Why Don’t Others See the Signs
Cole says dead people are everywhere. They’re all around. And I get that it’s his power that allows him to see them when no one else can. But these ghosts interact with the physical world. We see it in the beginning when a ghost in the kitchen opens all the cabinets as soon as Lynn leaves the room. She returns and sees every cabinet open, and she’s totally freaked out.
So if ghosts are really all around, wouldn’t people see those types of signs all the time? And if a ghost’s presence drops the temperature a solid 15 degrees even if nobody sees them, why aren’t more people complaining about broken thermostats.
I know a lot of people have poked holes in the plot over the years. If I thought harder about it (or googled it), I’m sure I could find plot holes. But this is the only one that stands out to me as worth mentioning. In a movie where I’ve already accepted that ghosts exist, I really have to suspend my disbelief to make sense of this.
Tim Matassa
