Character Analysis
If you think being an overworked single mom is hard enough already, just imagine having a kid who sees dead people.
That, friends, is some real parental angst.
Of course, Lynn doesn't find out that her son Cole sees dead people until the very end of the movie, but no matter: she knows something spooky-scary is going on with him the whole time. She finds the kitchen cabinets all blown open, Paranormal Activity-style, when she's only left Cole alone in the room for a few seconds. He's constantly frightened. He has scratches all over his body.
Lynn tries to find real-world explanations for these odd happenings, such as schoolyard bullies (in the case of the scratches) or a frantic search for Pop Tarts (as with the cupboards), but you get the (sixth?) sense that she knows something is up and is just too afraid to ask. Imagine seeing your son suffering all the time and having no idea how to help him. She feels completely helpless.
Sometimes she does ask a lot of questions, though—like when she discovers that someone has been moving the precious bumblebee pendant that belonged to her late mother. She thinks Cole's the culprit, but he isn't copping to the crime.
Lynn only presses the issue because she's convinced there is a "normal" explanation for the theft. As it turns out, Lynn's mother's ghost is actually the guilty party. Cole knows all that but can't admit it, natch, and so Lynn ends up frustrated when he won't just confess:
LYNN: God, I am so tired, Cole. I'm tired in my body, I'm tired in my mind, I'm tired in my heart. I need some help. You know, I don't know if you noticed, but our little family isn't doing so good. I mean, I've been praying, but I must not be praying right. Looks like we're just going to have to answer each other's prayers. If we can't talk to each other, we're not going to make it.
Of course, poor Cole is crushed because he doesn't want to make his mother upset, but he doesn't want to lie—he didn't take it. So Lynn sends him to bed in frustration.
Lynn can't stay mad at Cole for too long, though. A little bit later, when Cole is scared (after seeing some more ghosts he can't tell her about), all of her anger just dissolves as she leaps into mama bear mode:
COLE: If you're not very mad, can I sleep in your bed tonight?
LYNN: Look at my face. I'm not very mad. Baby, why are you shaking? Cole, what's wrong? Oh, God, please tell me! Oh, please.
It's a really heartbreaking moment, since both kid and mom are clearly suffering a lot and want to communicate.
But they just can't.
When Cole finally works up the nerve to tell his mother the whole truth about what's been going on, she's skeptical at first. But when Cole reveals that the bumblebee-pendant-stealing grandma had a message for her—a message that referenced information only Spirit Granny could know—Lynn realizes he's telling the truth.
As a result, she and Cole can finally communicate openly and honestly. We hope her single mom-dom gets a little easier after that point, you know, now that she can just focus on the normal challenges of being a single parent.
Like being the mom of the local ghost therapist.