The Sixth Sense Movie Script

COLE:

All the time. They're everywhere. (beat) You won't tell anyone my secret, right? Beat.

MALCOLM:

...No.

COLE:

Will you stay here till I fall asleep? Malcolm nods, "Yes." Cole pulls the covers up to his chin and turns to the window in the room. Malcolm is very still and stares at Cole. MALCOLM'S EYES -- slowly turn and survey the room. They find nothing. Malcolm returns to watching Cole. COLE'S EYES LOOK AROUND THE ROOM WARILY... WE MOVE IN ON THEM -- TILL HIS EYES FILL THE FRAME. Beat. And then we see what he's staring at. Through Cole's hospital room window we see the adjacent wing of the hospital building. Rows of hospital room windows are visible. In the windows are patients... SOME OLD, SOME YOUNG... SOME ARE DRESSED IN MODERN HOSPITAL GOWNS... SOME FROM DECADES PAST. THEY STAND UNNATURALLY STILL IN THEIR WINDOWS... WATCHING, WAITING.

CUT TO:

EXT. STREET CORNER - NIGHT Malcolm hails a cab. He steps off the sidewalk lost in his thoughts. Steam rises from a street vent. HEADLIGHTS. A CAR SUDDENLY EMERGES FROM THE STEAM, NARROWLY MISSING MALCOLM. Malcolm jerks out of the way. His briefcase falls to the ground. His tape recorder falls to the sidewalk. Beat. Malcolm reaches down and picks it up.

MALCOLM:

Cole... (beat) His pathology is more severe than initially assessed. (beat) He's suffering from visual hallucinations, paranoia -- Symptoms of some kind of school age Schizophrenia. (beat) Medication and hospitalization may be required. CLICK. Malcolm's hand with the tape recorder drops to his side.

MALCOLM:

(whispers) I'm not helping him. Malcolm stares into the night. He stands alone as thoughts crash like thunder in his head.

CUT TO:

INT. CAR - NIGHT The STREETS TURN RED as Lynn drives home from the hospital in silence. She glances down to her right.Cole is curled up asleep on the passenger seat, back in his regular clothes, a tiny party hat clutched in his hand. He looks like a four-year-old. The sight of him exhausted and still, hits Lynn hard. Lynn's face drowns in deep concern. She lays a hand on Cole's head as she drives.

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INT. COLE'S HOUSE - NIGHT The front door opens, Lynn carries Cole in. He's asleep on her shoulder. She carries him down the hall to his BEDROOM. Lynn lays Cole gently on his bed next to his German Shepherd Puppy. Cole curls up with Sebastian. Lynn watches the two youngsters sleep for a moment. Cole is curled up asleep with a tiny party hat clutched in his hands. He looks like a four-year-old. Lynn has been carrying Cole's sweater from over her shoulder. She pulls it off and begins to fold it. Her attention is drawn to the sweater. She fingers the fabric of the back. IT'S RIPPED. Her eyes move to Cole. In the middle of the back of his T-shirt are THREE SMALL TEARS. Lynn pushes the fabric open with her fingers and sees DEEP FINGERNAIL LIKE SCRATCHES on his skin. Lynn looks around helplessly, fear creeping into her eyes.

CUT TO:

INT. HALL - NIGHT Lynn emerges from Cole's room. She turns OFF THE HALL LIGHTS as she moves into her room and closes the door. WE HEAR LYNN PICK UP A PHONE AND DIAL. Beat.

LYNN:

Hi, this is Lynn Sear, Cole's mother. I wonder if we could talk about your son and his friends keeping their goddamn hands off my boy? The thermostat on the wall reads seventy-eight degrees.

DISSOLVE TO:

INT. HALL - NIGHT A few hours later. The house seems threateningly still. Too still.

CUT TO:

INT. COLE'S HOUSE - NIGHT An unnatural silence fills each room of the house.The thermostat on the wall now reads, fifty-two degrees. A LIGHT TURNS ON FROM UNDER COLE'S DOOR. The door opens a crack. Cole's tiny face peeks out. Eyes scan the darkness. The door opens a little bit more. Cole's knees are pressed together. His body dances a little. Cole has to pee. He moves cautiously into the hall. Cole moves briskly to a door halfway down the corridor. Opens it. Cole turns on the LIGHT IN THE BATHROOM. He checks behind the shower curtain, before he turns his back and pees into the toilet. A LARGE FIGURE MOVES PAST THE DOORWAY. Cole instantly stops peeing. His body becomes very still. He slowly reaches for the toilet handle and flushes. He closes his pants and turns. He doesn't come out of the bathroom at first. He just stands there and stares into the darkness of the hall. HIS BREATH FORMS TINY CLOUDS IN THE COLD AIR. Beat. Cole finally steps out into the hallway. His eyes catch a SLANT OF LIGHT now coming from the kitchen. Cole hesitates before being drawn to the kitchen. He moves down the hall and turns the corner -- coming to a stop in the doorway of the kitchen.

CUT TO:

INT. KITCHEN - NIGHT Cole stares at the back of a person cooking food on the stove. Cole's fear slowly fades away. Beat.

COLE:

Momma? (beat) Dream about daddy again? The person turns. It's not Lynn. It's a strange woman. The woman's face is demented. A purple gash cuts across her forehead. ALL THE CABINETS AND DRAWERS ARE OPEN BEHIND HER.

WOMAN:

DINNER'S -- NOT -- READY! Cole's face turns the color of ash.

WOMAN:

What are you going to do? Cole backs up to the doorway.

WOMAN:

You can't hurt me anymore! The woman smiles menacingly as she thrusts her wrists forward... They've been savagely cut.

CUT TO:

INT. HALLWAY - NIGHT Cole turns and runs down the hall.

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INT. BEDROOM - NIGHT Cole runs across his room. He heads right for the homemade tent seated in the corner with the "DO NOT TOUCH" sign on it. He scurries in. His legs disappear as the bedsheets flap closed behind him. The crazed woman stands at the end of the hall. Doesn't come any closer.

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INT. TENT - NIGHT Cole is curled up in the tent. He lays still for a moment reaching over and FLICKING ON A FLASHLIGHT. The red interior of the tent gets LIP UP. It's a striking sight. The bedsheet walls of the tent are lined with religious pictures taped to the walls. Tiny statues of saints surround the interior perimeter. We see the statue Cole stole from the church is in here... This tent is a sanctuary made by an eight-year-old to hide in.

DISSOLVE TO:

INT. AUDITORIUM STAGE - AFTERNOON THE LIGHTS IN THE GYM GO DOWN. THE SPOT LIGHT OPENS ON THE STAGE AS THE CURTAINS MOVE TO THE SIDES... A sign to the side of the stage reads, "The third and fourth grade presents -- Rudyard Kipling's "The Jungle Book." The parents APPLAUD AS TOMMY TAMMISIMO WALKS OUT ON STAGE in a villager's outfit.

TOMMY:

(Decent British accent) There once was a boy, very different than other boys. He lived in the jungle, and he could talk with the animals. BACKSTAGE, Mr. Cunningham cues the rest of the children. THE AUDIENCE APPLAUDS AS THE FULL CAST OF THE ACTORS COME OUT. Some are villagers, others are dressed as trees and animals. Cole comes on stage holding a painted cardboard monkey. MALCOLM APPLAUDS FROM THE BACK OF THE AUDITORIUM.

CUT TO:

INT. SCHOOL CORRIDOR - AFTERNOON The arched halls of the private school are lined with posted drawings and test papers.Cole and Malcolm walk down an empty hall.

COLE:

Did you think the play sucked big time?

MALCOLM:

What?