The Sixth Sense: parents' guide
Best for ages 13 and up. Rated PG-13 for intense thematic material and violent images.
A slow-burn ghost story and family drama, best for young teens who can handle disturbing images. A child psychologist tries to help a frightened 9-year-old who sees dead people, and the ghosts appear with the wounds that killed them: a boy with a gunshot head wound, a sick girl vomiting, three hanged figures. Early on, a former patient shoots the hero and then kills himself, and a subplot reveals that a mother poisoned her daughter. Language tops out at a few s-words, and there is no real sexual content. Frequent jump scares plus themes of suicide and child abuse are why we suggest 13.
What's in it
Violence
ModerateA disturbed former patient shoots the psychologist in the stomach, leaving a pool of blood on the bed, then turns the gun on himself just off screen. Ghosts display their fatal injuries, and a boy faints after bullies trap him in a dark cupboard.
Language
ModerateSome cursing, including "s--t" and "bulls--t," plus "d--k," "bastards," "piss," "damn," "hell" and "goddamn," and a boy is mocked as a "freak." None of the guides we read list an f-word.
Sex and nudity
MildA married couple kisses and starts to undress before being interrupted. The wife is briefly seen nude through a fogged shower door with no detail visible, and a couple of characters appear in underwear.
Drinking, drugs and smoking
MildAdults drink wine at a celebration dinner and one is teased about being a little drunk. A grieving character's antidepressant bottle is shown. No drug use.
Scary or intense scenes
StrongFrequent jump scares and gruesome ghosts: hanged bodies, a girl vomiting, a woman with slashed wrists, a burned figure. A terrified boy faces them alone at night, cupboards fly open by themselves, and he bears scratches from the encounters.
Sensitive topics
- Suicide
- Death of a child
- Child abuse
- Bullying
Worth talking about
Cole hides what he sees because he fears no one will believe him. Talk about who your teen could turn to when something feels too strange or scary to say out loud.
On our lists
Similar picks around 13+
Checked October 13th, 2026 against Common Sense Media, Plugged In, the MPA, Wikipedia, christiananswers.net, movieguide.org, bbfc.co.uk. The age is our judgment, not an official rating, and every family draws its lines differently: read the notes, not just the number. Spotted something we missed? Tell us. How we rate.