In terms of all-time last-second movie twists, The Sixth Sense is one of the best. M. Night Shyamalan's hit ghost story was a significant success at the box office and a critical darling, nominated for Best Picture at the 2000 Academy Awards. Much of the film's success hinged on word of mouth, generated by pulling the rug out from underneath its audience at the last minute and revealing that Bruce Willis' psychiatrist, Malcolm Crowe, had been dead all along.

However, the truth regarding The Sixth Sense's plot twist is always hiding in plain sight right from the beginning of the film. M. Night Shyamalan structured the film so that anyone in the audience who wanted to go back and rewatch the film immediately after finishing it would be rewarded for their efforts because the clues are more evident than ever on the second watch.

10 Malcolm Is Shot in the Beginning of the Film

Giving New Meaning to the Phrase: Chekhov's Gun

One of the biggest giveaways to Thappening is during the film's harrowing opening sequence. A former patient of Malcolm's (played by a decidedly not-so-hunky New Kid on the Block, Donnie Wahlberg) breaks into his home and threatens him with a weapon for not being able to help him with his mental health problems.

Shortly after that, Malcolm is shot, and the camera lingers directly above his body as his wife screams for him to hold on. From there, The Sixth Sense cuts directly to a scene set one year later, taking advantage of the audience's familiarity with filmmaking techniques that suggest the passage of time to give the impression that Malcolm has somehow survived this deadly encounter while remaining haunted by its aftermath. Of course, the truth is that he did not.

9 Ghosts Don't Know They're Dead

Living (or Not) in Denial

The Sixth Sense informs its audience of a series of rules the film will follow regarding its ghostly specters. Most of these rules are explained to Malcolm by his new patient, Cole Sear, played by Haley Joel Osment. When Cole tells Malcolm the truth about what he sees, he reveals one significant fact: Ghosts don't realize they're dead.

Learning that ghosts don't realize they're dead should have given away The Sixth Sense's big secret, but Shyamalan masterfully blends that breadcrumb with so many others that it gets lost in the shuffle. Too many horrifying things happen in the early part of the film for this detail to register.

8 Cole Is Helping Malcolm

He Just Doesn't Know It

It takes Malcolm a moment or two to believe Cole once he reveals his secret. Once he does, Malcolm provides another critical piece to the puzzle by suggesting why these ghosts might be sticking around in the first place. They need Cole to help them with a lingering unresolved issue in their former life. Malcolm posits that the ghosts might leave him alone if Cole assists them.

As it turns out, Malcolm was right, but he didn't realize he was also talking about himself. Toward the film's end, Cole gives Malcolm vital advice to help him connect with his (seemingly) estranged wife. Once he puts that advice into action, the truth about what happened to Malcolm finally comes crashing down on him and the audience.

7 Malcolm and Anna Have a Not-So-Happy Anniversary

Takes "Estranged" to a Whole New Level

When The Sixth Sense isn't concerned with Malcolm and Cole's developing relationship, it spends the rest of its runtime chronicling the deterioration of Malcom's marriage to his wife, Anna. Based upon the evidence the film gives its audience to go on, it seems as if Malcolm and Anna's relationship has cooled down or soured ever since he was attacked in their home.

The Sixth Sense suggests Malcolm's obsession with his work has led to this crossroads in his marriage. Later in the film, Malcolm arrives late at a restaurant to celebrate their wedding anniversary, but Anna seemingly ignores him despite his apologies. The entire scene is a masterclass in blocking and misdirection because, as we will later learn, Anna wasn't ignoring Malcolm. She was simply the only living person sitting at that table.

6 Malcolm's Missing Wedding Ring

The Ties That Unbind

Speaking of deteriorating marriages, another clue that Malcolm has been dead all along is that he's never seen wearing his wedding ring following being shot. When a sleeping Anna drops Malcolm's wedding ring to the floor at the end of the film, that's the moment he finally realizes what's happened to himself.

The interesting thing about this clue is that it's difficult to spot by design. According to reports, Bruce Willis utilized his ambidextrous ability to write with his right hand throughout the film despite being left-handed. He threw off the audience so they wouldn't notice Malcolm's wedding ring missing from his left hand.

5 No One Except Cole Ever Interacts with Malcolm

Now You See Him, Now You Don't

This is another clue that seems painfully obvious to anyone in the audience once it finally clicks. Throughout The Sixth Sense, no one is seen talking or interacting with Malcolm outside Cole Sear. That includes when Cole arrives home to find Malcolm sitting in a chair next to his mother, Lynn. While it might appear that Lynn and Malcolm were chatting and waiting for Cole to return home, Lynn had no idea she wasn't alone in the room.

This little detail is also duplicated in the aforementioned anniversary dinner. When Malcolm reaches for the cheque, his wife Anna gets it first, so the audience doesn't find out then and there; he can't grab onto it.

4 Malcolm Is Always Forgetting the Key to His Basement Office

Some Doors Can't Be Opened

Another rule that Cole established in The Sixth Sense is that dead people see the world as they want to see it, not how it is. More specifically, they remember things as they were when they were alive. For Malcolm, that manifests as his basement door, which he is frequently seen trying to open but never seems to have the key.

After discovering he's been dead all along, Malcolm returns to this basement door only to see that it has been blocked off for the entire time by a desk that Anna has now placed in front of it. That red doorknob wouldn't turn for a reason, and it wasn't because he didn't have a key.

3 The Color Red is Everywhere

But It Doesn't Symbolize Anger

Speaking of red, eagle-eyed audience members have probably noticed that the color is everywhere in The Sixth Sense, and for good reason, too. Every time the color red appears on the screen, it has a narrative purpose that signifies the dead interacting with the world of the living.

You'll notice the color red, most obviously, whenever Cole appears in the same scene as Malcolm or any other ghost, for that matter. That includes prominent red church doors, red sweaters, red tents, and even a haunting red balloon. This is the one motif that Shyamalan had no problem hitting his audience over the head with, and he even went so far as to remove the color from any scene that didn't contain any supernatural elements.

2 Malcolm Always Wears the Same Clothes

Ghosts Don't Have Time for Laundry

Elaborate costuming always stands out in movies. The more banal a character might look, the less likely the audience will register what they're wearing. That's why almost no one ever recognized that Malcolm's boring, plane-jane blue dress shirt, which he was shot while wearing, is worn throughout the film.

Malcolm wears a suit jacket and sweater to hide the blue shirt at different points in the film, but the shirt always remains a part of his overall ensemble. In The Sixth Sense's final moments, it's revealed that the blue shirt is still stained red with Malcolm's blood from the attack earlier in the film.

1 Framing Choices When Cole Shares His Secret

He Sees Dead People, Like the One Sitting Right Next to Him