What was up with the father?

hahahha all good points!

Jonah is just a typical selfish middle class t*at. He hasn't even got any of the medicine yet, he's only thinking of possibly going into it as a buissness. As for taking away Miranda, he had a rather disturbing obsession with her.

::Kim::

Sounds right to me.

Ya, my boyfriend and I said the exact same thing. It was weird so he must have known.

Jonah was a perfectly believable character to me.

He is a middle class, well educated intellectual with a bohemian streak who has obviously led a typical, comfortable and fairly pampered life up until the events of the film kick in. He's a typical new age English father if you like.

When everything kicks off, he can't cope. Simple as that. Most men in his situation would be the same. Trying to rationalize what is going on, trying to portray a facade of calmness and being in control when it's really obvious to the viewer (and the other characters) that he really isn't in control at all and is actually very ineffectual. Frozen into numbness by the perceived impossibility of what is going on if you like. Look at the way that his hysterical sister-in-law lambasts him out in the woods when she screams at him to 'Take some responsibility - do something'. She actually sums up what most of us viewers are thinking at that point.

The reaction to finding his son dead is also very authentic. Again, he can't believe it. Look at how he acts calm as he approaches his son and cradles him. That's the residue of his shock - he's not displaying emotion at this point because he is still unable to grasp and make sense of what has happened in so short a time.

Afterwards, he does display emotion - you see his red rimmed eyes and his gaunt look as he comforts his wife. Then you see the mix of confused emotions on his face as he realizes that his wife and daughter killed his son. As soon as his sister-in-law screams that his teenage daughter is the one who is behind everything, that is the trigger he needs because to his muddled mind that actually makes sense.

His actions afterwards are perfectly understandable. He sees the teenage daughter attack his youngest daughter and so confirmation is provided. His one priority at that point is to protect his vulnerable younger daughter and get her away from the two other members of his family that he believes are now a real threat. Hence the escape by car with Miranda. He leaves Elaine and Casey for the police and ambulance when they arrive.

Nice logical progression if you ask me - marvellously portrayed by the actor.

Cheers :-)

Didn't anyone notice how many wine/liquor bottles were being thrown out? They were all "impaired", to put it mildly!!!

I don't love her.. She kicked me in the face!!

Good theory. I was confused by his behavior, too. I think if he were up to something he would have been more apt to have survived. I understand him being upset when he came in and saw his step daughter trying to kill his daughter, but why was he so rough with his wife? Why did he leave her there with everything going on? He didn't even try to talk to her. Why didn't he notice how odd his daughter was behaving? Is this a cultural thing? Who just takes their prepubescent daughter to another room when she scratches her aunt in the face and starts screaming? Also, why wouldn't the mom just unlock Casey's door? Why make her break through it? That scene handled tension pretty well, but there were just too many 'huh???' moments for me.

And when his brother-in-law is bleeding to death in the snow he's just complaining about how his wife doesn't give a damn about the cut on his arm. What kind of person is selfish that he complains about a cut while a member of the family is dying in the backyard while his children watch??