Small Things Like These

‘I promise to live in the past, the present and the future.’
This line recited by young Bill to Mrs. Wilson epitomises the concept of the film. 

The Past
When making his critical decision to save the girl, it is the memory of Ned which ignites this action. Bill reflects on how Ned showed so much compassion, sacrifice and care to young Bill and attributes Ned to saving his upbringing. Without Ned, Bill could have been any one of them unfortunate children tortured by the church. 

The Present
Like in all our lives, we use past experiences to inform our present day decisions - Bill’s experience and gratitude towards Ned is the key influence which causes him to make his decision in the present. Worried not about uncertainty in that moment, he decides to save the young girl. Although Cillian Murphy does not want Bill to be seen as a hero - in the eyes of that young girl, much like Ned was to Bill, he is. 

The Future
With the risk of sacrificing his family, his reputation and his business, he takes action to provide a brighter future. Not only for the girl but for her child as well. What would the rest of their lives be like if Bill had not intervened? His act of bravery and desperation drops a rock in the river in the movement against this looming chronicle of Irish history and towards a brighter Irish future. 

Bill agonisingly lives in all three tenses... which paradoxically causes him to inherit the alternate meaning of the word.