It's extremely hard to review, or even say anything about the film without spoiling any substantial aspect, because, apart from the shocking ending twist, this movie repeatedly changes genres throughout the running time. At first it looks like a drama about a psychologist's guilt for failing one of his patients. Then it's a mystery about the troubles of the young boy. Then a ghost story, a horror.
What makes the ending twist especially good is that the audience does not expect even the existence of such a twist: the "I see dead people" reveal seems to resolve anything that needs to be resolved. When Cole talks with his mother in the car, there seem to be virtually no stakes at all. Malcolm is just going to speak with his wife, we think, and she will understand why he was absent in the last weeks.
The twist is shocking and unexpected, but after the "They don't know they're dead" flashback, we agree that we could have seen it coming. The movie is full of hints, starting from the opening murder-suicide, and herein lies the brilliance of this film. It's easy to create a shocking reveal, but it's incredibly hard for it to make logical and thematical sense at the same time.
What makes the ending twist especially good is that the audience does not expect even the existence of such a twist: the "I see dead people" reveal seems to resolve anything that needs to be resolved. When Cole talks with his mother in the car, there seem to be virtually no stakes at all. Malcolm is just going to speak with his wife, we think, and she will understand why he was absent in the last weeks.
The twist is shocking and unexpected, but after the "They don't know they're dead" flashback, we agree that we could have seen it coming. The movie is full of hints, starting from the opening murder-suicide, and herein lies the brilliance of this film. It's easy to create a shocking reveal, but it's incredibly hard for it to make logical and thematical sense at the same time.