Cantankerous and prejudiced Korean War combat veteran and retired Ford factory worker Walt Kowalski is widowed after fifty years of marriage. His Rust Belt neighborhood in Metro Detroit has become filled with gang violence and poor Hmong immigrants, including Walt's next-door neighbors, the Vang Lor family. Adding to his isolation, Walt is emotionally detached from his family; he angrily rejects his son's suggestion that he move to a retirement community and lives alone with his elderly labrador, Daisy. A chronic tobacco user, Walt suffers from coughing fits, occasionally spitting up blood. As requested by Walt's late wife, her priest, Father Janovich, tries to comfort Walt and persuade him to go to confession. Despite being harshly rejected by Walt, Father Janovich repeatedly tries to get through to him.