The family is having a picnic outside their home when Gage follows his drifting kite toward the busy road. Louis and the others scramble to catch him. A speeding tanker truck reaches him first.
A bloody shoe and Louis Creed collapsing in grief carry the aftermath of Gage’s death in 1989’s Pet Sematary. The film keeps the truck’s impact offscreen after showing a father trying to reach his son before it’s too late.
That death becomes the turning point in the adaptation of Stephen King’s novel. Grief drives Louis to take Gage’s body beyond the pet cemetery to an ancient burial ground where the dead return changed.
His attempt to bring his son back sets the rest of the horror in motion.
