[In our best movie trailer voice…]
In a world in which the dead haunt children, it's no surprise that fear is king.
Cole spends much of the story in a constant state of fear and paralyzing anxiety. And it's ruining his nine-year-old life. He has no friends, spends his time alone, cowers in front of his mother, is always looking over his shoulder, can't sleep, is anxious and depressed. Worse, he's afraid that his mom will reject him if he tells her what's going on, so he's stuck alone with his terrible fear. She's afraid, in turn, about what's happening to her worried, silent kid.
Shyamalan does a great job of scaring us, too. We get a taste of what life's like for Cole—not knowing whose bloodied face is going to jump out at us next. And we can all relate to Cole's fear of disapproval from the person he loves most.
Malcolm's job is to get Cole to talk about his fears so he can start doing something about them. Malcolm's probably expecting to hear about the usual fears—not having friends, being bullied, worrying about that stupid science project that the rest of your group is totaling bailing on.
He's about to get a scare of his own.
Questions about Fear
- Why do you think Vincent never really explained to Malcolm why he was afraid before killing himself (and Malcolm)? Wasn't that his big opportunity to speak his truth?
- How much do you think Lynn suspects about Cole's special powers?
- What do you think Malcolm's big fears are? Do they change at all throughout the film, or does our perception of them change?
Chew on This
Lynn clearly suspects that there's something weird going on with Cole, but she's in serious denial to protect herself.
The film lets us know how destructive fear can be. Vincent killed himself because he was overwhelmed by fear.