One of the most forgotten characters in this film is Col. Fitts wife. She is completely devoid of emotion. Catatonic, like a survivor of extreme PTSD. Possibly from being beaten into submission, and emotionally traumatized from watching her son be sent to an institute for two years.
Their home is a bomb shelter. Neat to the extreme. She says she should have "...straightened the place up," without the slightest clue of how sardonic this sounds.
The view outside is of an unkept lawn and unkempt hedges,as if the outside matters not, due to some approaching apocalypse.
Her character is the horror in this film, the dirty secret that no one wants to acknowledge, let alone engage.