“The Sixth Sense” gave us one of the greatest twist endings of all time. But, like a ghost, it has been haunting us with one major unanswered question over the years.
Well, everything’s about to change ...
Following the reveal that Bruce Willis’ character, Malcolm, has been dead the whole time (Whaaaaattt? I know, right? It’s still crazy), we’re left wondering one thing.
Did Cole know?
Cole (Haley Joel Osment) is seemingly terrified of ghosts for most of the movie. He’s got that tent with all the religious statues and freaks out every time he starts to see his breath.
Just turn up the thermostat, dude.
Everything is different when Cole meets child psychologist Malcolm. Sure, he seems a little standoffish at first. Who wouldn’t be? The guy who blows people up in “Die Hard” wants to ask him about his feelings. Eventually, Malcolm breaks through, though, forming a bond with Cole despite the fact that he’s dead.
This is all evidence that Cole didn’t know about Malcolm. If he did, he’d probably freak out like he normally does.
But, upon watching the movie more closely, it appears Cole could be aware that Malcolm is a ghost. The key piece of evidence comes when Cole is revealing his secret to Malcolm, the famous “I see dead people” moment.
Cole says ghosts “don’t know they’re dead” and only see “what they want to see.”
Surely, at some point, Cole noticed the blood stain from the gunshot on Malcolm’s shirt, right? Malcolm couldn’t see it because he didn’t know he was a goner.
So what’s the answer? Now, we may finally know.
Recently, The Huffington Post sat down with producer Roger Birnbaum and actor Vincent D’Onofrio to talk about their new movie, “The Magnificent Seven.”
Birnbaum is also a producer on “The Sixth Sense,” and during the interview, we asked that big question: “Did Haley Joel Osment actually know Bruce Willis was dead the whole time?”
The answer: “No.”
Well, maybe no. Check out Birnbaum’s response here:
The producer says “no” pretty definitively. If we left the subject there, that would’ve likely been the answer. But we didn’t leave it there.
I started losing my cool because, duh. That’s crazy.
After my reaction, Birnbaum added, “Or yes.”
(C’mon! You’re killing me, Roger!)
Based on the response, it appears the answer is likely “no,” which is wild because the evidence had us thinking Cole did know. But Birnbaum threw in that M. Night Shyamalan-twist to mess with us. Typical.
It’s like Brad Pitt says in “Moneyball,” when you get the answer you’re looking for, hang up.
Birnbaum and D’Onofrio’s new movie, ”The Magnificent Seven,” hits theaters Friday.
Hit Backspace for a regular dose of pop culture nostalgia.