Small But Poignant Details About M. Night Shyamalan's 'The Sixth Sense' That Fans Found Years Later

From Redditor u/brush_between_meals:

In the church, after Cole meets Malcolm for the first time, Cole steals another figurine on his way out of the church. If each new figurine represents a ghost [who haunts Cole], then Cole took this one because he has just added a new ghost (Malcolm) to his menagerie.

Anne Crowe seems quite cold towards her husband when he comes in late for their anniversary dinner, mumbling a quick “Happy anniversary” to him before taking off. She doesn't even make eye contact. In fact, not a single person makes contact with Malcolm during the entirety of the movie except for Cole, hinting that Malcolm is, in fact, dead.

Once you know the twist, it's fun to watch the awkward silences between the earth-bound mortals and the undead figures who don't know they're dead, including Malcolm. Malcolm sits in silence, appearing to be contemplating Cole's predicament, but in truth, he's sitting unnoticed by the living.

This is pure craftsmanship on the director's part and makes the movie great fun to watch a second, third, and fourth time.

From Redditor u/throughsaweigh:

Just before the end of the credits, right after the music has ended, a man very quietly says, “Yo no quiero morir,” which is what Malcolm heard on the tape of his session with Vincent Gray.

From Redditor u/Zzeker2:

My Spanish is finally paying off.

…It means "I do not want to die."

When Cole first spots Malcom outside of his house, he runs away and flees into a church for safety. Cole was clearly terrified when he first started seeing Malcolm.

Later, after meeting him inside his apartment, he knows his mother cannot see him, so he doesn't ask her about him. He merely freezes in the doorway until Malcom starts engaging with him. 

All of their early meetings are tinged with fear until Cole learns that Malcolm is trustworthy and won't hurt him as other ghosts have in the past. It's obvious that Cole understands that Malcolm is deceased. It's also obvious that he knows that Malcolm does not understand that he's dead. 

Cole is helping Malcolm by allowing Malcolm to help him.

From Redditor u/kthejoker:

When Malcolm visits Cole in the hospital and tries telling him a story, Cole reminds him that "all good stories have a twist" - and then the film immediately has Cole tell Malcolm his "secret."