The custody (?) situation ....

I think Jack was in love with Patrick's wife but kept it to himself since he was friends with Patrick. He didn't "put her down", he chopped off her infected arm and she apparently survived long enough to die in a locked vehicle (which made zero sense, was the creature already in the truck? She would have seen/heard/smelled it when she got in the cab. Why would it already be in the truck anyway? Or did it just come in the open window or door, which also makes zero sense since it's freezing cold out and they would have everything closed. Dumb.)

Patrick was a raging, guilt-ridden mess and he allowed Jack to steal his child and to never allow him to even look at her again. Super hard to believe, especially considering they live right next to each other and have for nine year. I got a serious creeper vibe off Jack, like he was raising the daughter to be the replacement for the mother.

I would have smashed Jack's face with the butt of my rifle for letting my dog die but that's just me. I think they were trying to show how guilty Patrick felt for everything so he just excused Jack's cowardice.

One thing you didn't mention, the monsters' enhanced hearing. One is literally on top of unconscious Patrick but doesn't attack him. Why was it on top of him if it didn't know he was there? If its hearing is so good, shouldn't it be able to hear him breathing? Feel his heat? Smell him? Gah!

I don't know why this movie annoyed me so much.

It seemed way more convoluted than necessary and they just hint at how it came to be that way for most of the movie, dropping in flash backs here and there that only made me think ok I got it, no wait I dont. That was annoying. I assume he was such a mess after his wife died (was killed) that he went over the edge and wasnt capable of taking care of an infant? Yet he seems to have got it together enough to survive pretty well. Why didnt he go back over and say ok Jack Ill take my kid back thanks. And he was all apologetic TO him about what happened to HIS OWN wife. What?? Im sorry I allowed my wife to get killed because I know you wanted her? In fact Im SO sorry that Ill let you raise my own child and not complain about it? The whole dynamic is confusing and weird and having them be next door neighbors the WHOLE time made it even weirder.

And I assumed the woman died that night when she got bit. I assumed Patrick was mad at him because he had shot her before she could turn. But instead she survives and there she is in flash backs which confused me. And hes mad at him for nine years because he let a creature kill her? It seems like there is a much simpler way this thing could have been written...

Nice name by the way.

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http://letterboxd.com/blakkdog/

Maybe I missed something, but I thought Jack might have been the mom's brother. That would make Jack the biological uncle to Lu. The Brother/Uncle relationship makes sense to me in the context of what I saw happening in the movie. But, like you, I wasn't paying complete attention to every detail in the movie so I could be wrong.

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