AShyamalan uses red for important scenes in all of his movies. Inside the door with the red door knob is Malcolm's study room. As explained in the film, ghosts only see what they want to see. Malcolm therefore saw himself as being unable to open the door for no apparent reason. However, at the end we see that his wife Anna (Olivia Williams) has barricaded it with a table.
AFollowing the play, Malcolm tells Cole that they've both said everything they needed to say and that they won't be seeing each other again. On the drive home, Cole and his mother Lynn (Toni Collette) are held up because of an accident. Lynn apologizes for missing the play, and Cole says that he's ready to tell her his secrets. He reveals that a lady died in the accident but that she's standing next to his window right now. He explains how he sees ghosts that talk to him and that ask him to do things. To make sure she believes him, he tells her how Grandma took the bumblebee pennant as well as some other things that only she would know about her childhood...all told to him by Grandma. The lines of communication now open between them, Cole and Lynn hug each other. Meanwhile, Malcolm goes home to find Anna asleep in a living room chair, their wedding video playing on the television. He tries talking to her as Cole suggested, and she responds without awakening, asking why he left her. At first, Malcolm doesn't know what she means. When she drops his wedding band on the floor, however, he remembers Cole telling him that he sees people who don't know that they are dead and realizes that Cole was talking about him. Suddenly, it all comes back how Vincent shot him in the abdomen, and he realizes that he died that night and that he's been hanging around out a need to help someone but that it's now time to move on. After telling Anna that she was never second in his life and that he loves her, Malcolm wishes her a good night and leaves, passing on to whatever lies beyond death. In the final scene, Anna sleeps on while the wedding video plays out.
