I think this movie (American Beaty) follows the Equilibrium Theory by Strauss, this still from the opening scene shows it because the daughter of the protagonist seems to be OK, it all seems calm like nothing is wrong
This still then shows that the daughter is thinking of doing something bad, this is where the audience starts to notice that there’s something wrong, however the protagonist doesn’t know it yet.
This still then takes it back by making it seem as if the street is a calm friendly neighbourhood, where nothing really bad happens.
This still also shows that it’s calm, it is as if it’s the start of a normal day. Because he’s sleeping you feel as if something bad is going to happen to him.
This still also shows that the neighbourhood is a friendly neighbourhood because the neighbours are nice and you actually can get to know them.
This still then shows a more apparent hatred for the protagonist, because the wife is looking at him madly because of his clumsiness.
