Danny, and a few other head scratchers.

1) I think Danny was this woman's child and she was just there to show the chaos of the bombings and that even kids were vaporised.

2) Why would they warn us? What good would it do other than cause panic and confusion a few minutes earlier.

3) I took it just to mean it's winter and pity these poor souls who are going to be caught out without power and food in the dead of winter but the idea of fallout is interesting and one I hadn't thought of.

4) I suppose the element of surprise were what the enemy was intending. Communications and electronics were disabled by the bomb anyway, for all the good they would have done people.

5) No, and I think that's a large part of the film. We're meant to focus more on the family's plight than why did what when. The family couldn't really give a toss who started the attack because their lives are ruined regardless.


"I always pretend to root for Gryffindors but, secretly, I love my Slytherin boys."~ Karen, W&G

1. I don't think they were trying to suggest someone was vaporized. It was just a woman trying to locate her son. I think it's reasonable that in the middle of a major crisis that parents would want to know where their children were and that they were safe. That was the first thing a lot of people did during the 9/11 attacks.

2. The movie never made it clear if it was a nuclear attack by the soviets. At one point the mom cries out, asking who is responsible. The old man tells them about the several theories he has heard while talking to other people on his radio. It could be the soviets, or the chinese, terrorists, or some kind of accident. If it was terrorists detonating bombs from within the major cities, then there obviously wouldn't be any warning. If it was a soviet missile attack, I'm not entirely convinced that the United States government would have their act together enough that they would activate the Emergency Broadcasting System with that much warning time. And really, what would be the benefit? 5 minutes of chaos before the bombs hit. If you are in San Francisco, how far are you supposed to get in 5 minutes.

3. Those were answering machine messages that were left before the bombs. First is the message from the grandmother, then her husband. Before the bombs, I think the mom says something about how she would like the family to visit the grandparents in Chicago so they can see snow. When she plays back the message, it's a reminder about the way their family used to be and that the grandparents are most likely dead.

4. In most modern wars, the first act is to disrupt the communications of the enemy. In a nuclear event, the bombs give off an EMP (electro-magnetic pulse) when detonated and that fries all transistorized electronics within a certain range. Since the nuclear device already does that, there isn't a need to do that beforehand.

5. It was never revealed. I don't think the film-makers wanted this to be a movie about a soviet attack or a nuclear accident or whatever, and that's what the audience would think if they identified something specific. It was a movie about the effects of a nuclear event on one family. The chaos is part of the tragedy of it all. Nobody knows what happened, or to what extent, or what has happened to members of their family, or if there is anywhere that is safe. They just don't know what to do.

The missing kid is Kenny. The orphaned kid is Danny. The film takes place in February so snow in Chicago would be normal (but fall-out is still a good theory).