Cole is very unwilling to trust his counselor but after a surprising outburst at school slowly begins to take Crowe into his confidence. At a birthday party, Cole is locked in a darkened closet by his classmates. The shock is so severe that he is taken to spend a night in the hospital and there he confides the words that any human being on this earth who has ever seen a trailer remember vividly: "I... see... dead people." He is haunted by ghosts. Some of them don't know they're dead and go about their normal routines. Others want his help. They are found hanging from the rafters in the local schoolhouse, lingering in corridors, walking fog-shrouded streets. The dog can sense them. Cole can see them. And they are slowly driving him insane.

Spiritual aspects aside, The Sixth Sense is a very dark film with a heavy overtone of  supernatural evil. Perhaps the most disturbing element is the conclusion when Cole eventually learns to live with his "sixth sense." The film is the first truly successful ghost story in a long time -- perhaps because now more than ever people are searching. They feel a kinship with Cole in not knowing what's out there. Christians justly perceive that life is merely a cracked reflection of eternity; that we will truly live only in the presence of God. 

We are also aware that there are only two kinds of spiritual beings in this world -- angels and demons. The forces that live in this dark film are neither. The most grabbing element of the film itself is the slow way in which the director reveals the unexpected. The ending will leave many viewers gasping and wind up in a long reflection on how they missed it... which is what drove viewers back to the theater time and time again. The acting is stellar, particularly on part of the young lead, and the director's use of cherry red is symbolic. The film carries you along with it rapidly toward the inevitable conclusion but rarely does it provoke any true spiritual insights. 

As far as Christianity is concerned, this is a confused film -- almost like Cole himself -- struggling to find some meaning to its torment. Content-wise, it is more than worth the PG13 rating. Spine-chilling images of dead people vapidly appear on the screen; some are bloody, others hang by the neck. A biker is killed in traffic and passes by Cole's car door, unaware of her death. A ghostly girl vomits up poison. Perhaps more jarring are the sinister problems that the film presents... in uncomfortably dark moments, such as the battered wife passing through the corridor, and the child reaching out to grasp Cole's foot from under the bed.

Language is minimal, although Cole vents himself through some very abusive letters that his mother finds among his papers. A woman is shown through a rippled shower door (thus no obvious nudity); a woman changes her shirt and we glimpse her bra momentarily; several male figures are shown in their underwear, once for a lengthy amount of time in the opening montage. The children are often mean to one another, and Cole verbally attacks a teacher with information that a ghost has given him. (He calls him names and terrifies the man half to death.)

The idea that ghost stories are harmful -- although I believe that in a sense they can be dangerous -- is a mute point; if we were to condemn all ghost stories, we would have to eliminate The Christmas Carol, one of the most brilliant, thought-provoking and good-hearted stories ever penned. My concern with The Sixth Sense lies in the way it is perceived and whether or not it could open the door to darkness for young and easily-influenced viewers. In all honesty, I did not feel at ease watching this film. And in that, I cannot recommend it despite its spellbinding premise.