The ending for Small Things Like These is both heartwarming and harrowing. Adapted from the historical fiction novel by Claire Keegan, Cillian Murphy’s new movie places him in the role of coal miner Bill Furlong, a quiet, soft-spoken insomniac with a wife and five daughters. Offering one of Cillian Murphy’s best performances, Small Things Like These sees his character’s life take a turn when he comes across a Magdalene laundry facility hidden with a convent that abuses girls and embarks on a plan to provide help.
Bill becomes embroiled in the dilemma of a girl named Sarah and tries to protect her from the corrupt Mother Mary. She subtly threatens and bribes Bill to keep quiet about everything he’s seen. Word spreads around town about Bill’s interaction with Mother Mary, and characters in Small Things Like These advise Bill to stay silent. But ultimately, Bill’s morality wins out in the end, resulting in an ending where Sarah is promised a better future.
Why Bill Returns To Save Sarah In Small Things Like These’s Ending
He Needed To Do Something Because She Was Robbed Of Choice
When Bill first meets Sarah, the nuns at the convent shame her into saying that some girls within the convent left her in the shed after playing a game of hide and seek, in direct contrast to the obvious that the nuns are forcing Sarah to sleep out in the shed as punishment for her unholy pregnancy. When Bill comes inside to discuss the issue with Mother Mary, it is clear that Sarah is extremely fearful of her. It is also clear from their interaction that even Bill is nervous about Mother Mary. Despite this, Bill offers help to one of the girls and eventually does help Sarah.
Bill is a kind, soft-hearted person who finally shows the moral courage he has been searching for throughout the film. His act of kindness is what both Bill and Sarah need.
Throughout the movie, Bill has been looking for something to do once he learns about the laundry house abuse, even though he struggles with knowing how to help. Bill is a kind, soft-hearted person who finally shows the moral courage he has been searching for throughout the film. His act of kindness is what both Bill and Sarah need.
It’s understood in the movie that Bill’s mother was a servant to a rich woman. Bill’s mother could not provide much for him, which frustrated him due to her lack of choices. When she tragically died, Bill felt guitly and never forgave himself for her death. This baggage factored heavily into Bill’s overwhelming desire to help in Small Things Like These.
What Bill Saving Sarah Means For His Family
They Will Likely Be Ostracized And Outcasted
Mother Mary made it clear before she bribed Bill of her immense power. She asked Bill about his daughters and noted that it is getting harder for girls to get into the church’s school. Bill’s wife and people around town, like Mrs. Kehoe, have pressured Bill to stay silent. It is plain to see that the town will not respond well to Bill’s actions. Even his family will be shocked by his actions. The film even shows this at the end. Although Bill’s family wasn’t involved in his choice, they will feel the impact of his actions. It will be difficult for them since they likely would disagree with his choice, particularly his wife, Eileen.
When Bill and Sarah cross the bridge back into town, everyone on the streets Bill and Sarah have piercing eyes, but he continues to help the struggling Sarah to his house. Once the pair get to his home and ᴀssures Sarah of her safety, he introduces her to his family. They were enjoying themselves in another room when Bill and Sarah entered. The room goes silent. Then the screen goes black. Their shock could be felt through the screen.
Was Bill Responsible For Exposing The Magdalene Laundry Scandal?
No One Else Was Going To Help Those Girls
Bill Furlong is a character whose heart needs mending. He struggles with his past youth and the traumatic death of his mother. The responsibility grows for Bill as the story progresses. He first notices a distressed girl going into the asylum, then speaks to abused girls within the asylum. When Bill finally meets Sarah, the responsibility he feels growing inside him manifests into action. It took some time, but once Bill realized that he was burdened with the task of saving Sarah, his conscience drove him to act.
The impact the convent has makes people stay quiet on this issue, while others claim that the troubled girls in the Magdalene laundry house are not their responsibility. Bill’s warm heart drives him to perform small acts of kindness that others may question. The difference is that he knows he’s making the morally right decision.
What Happened To The Convent After Small Things Like These?
Based On The True History The Story Is Based On, The Convent Would Eventually Shut Down
Small Things Like These’s abrupt ending prevents us from seeing the repercussions of Bill’s decision to save Sarah. The movie fades to black with a dedication to all the victims and survivors of these Magdalene laundry houses in Ireland from the early 1900s to the 1990s. These infamous asylums depicted in Small Things Like These were the subjects of inquiries, reparations, and scandal. Eventually, the Irish government shut down all of these spots, and a mᴀss grave of women from one of these laundries was discovered in 1993.
Regarding the film, Bill’s rescue of Sarah would likely stir some backlash even with the tentative Catholic community of New Ross, Ireland. More likely, it would have repercussions on a more country-wide level, creating divisive and polarizing reactions around the conversation of religion and Catholics in Ireland. Eventually, the convent would be forced to shut down due to scandal and the government sometime in the next decade.
The Real Meaning Of Small Things Like These
Get Involved If Something Feels Wrong
Small Things Like These is a story about a soft-spoken, distant person with a heart desiring to do good in a Catholic community where its convent runs a Magdalene laundry that abuses girls. People in the town know about it but leave the issue alone. It takes a character like Bill, who is battling his demons and past trauma, to realize that leaving this issue alone after witnessing it firsthand is the morally wrong thing to do.
The sudden, ambiguous ending tells us that any repercussions of Bill’s actions do not matter to him. The only thing that mattered was doing the right thing, which was saving Sarah. This was his redemption and the final step in Bill’s forgiveness of his younger self, traumatized by his mother’s death. Once Bill overcame his past trauma, he could save Sarah without fear.
Bill Furlong takes it upon himself to perform small acts of kindness, even though he suffers from his traumatic youth and insomnia throughout the story, which later culminates into an enormous act of kindness that will ruffle feathers for everyone in New Ross, Ireland. Small Things Like These attempts to tell its audience that even in the most challenging circumstances, people are capable of performing a great act of kindness, even with the simplest possible means.
How The Small Things Like These Ending Was Received
Critics & Fans Loved The Cillian Murphy Movie
Small Things Like These was highly praised, with a 93% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes and an 81% Popcornmeter score. However, not all fans were impressed with the film, and especially its quiet ending. One RT review read, “Slow moving and tedious with a less than satisfying ending. We wonder throughout the movie what is going on in the convent without ever really finding out. It’s necessary to look at other sources after watching the movie to make more sense of it.“
However, Richard Roeper wrote, in his review for the Chicago Sun-Times, that it was one of the best movies he saw in 2024:
“Directed with precision and Dickensian visual touches by Tim Mielants, with Enda Walsh adapting Claire Keegan’s novel of the same name, “Small Things Like These” hits every note with perfection. Though Bill often looks as he carries the weight of the world with him, he is grateful for this life. He can’t rescue everyone in that convent, but maybe there’s room for one more girl around that kitchen table.”
There was also a Reddit thread that broke down the Small Things Like These ending. Many fans there seemed to love the open-ended ending. One Redditor wrote, “I love how it leaves it open what happens afterwards. Will his family suffer for his decision to help this girl? Will it do any greater good or is it just one girl saved? And what is even the fate of this one girl, is she even better outside of the Laundry when the society sees her as a fallen woman? … Doing the right thing is right, and best in the big picture, no matter the consequences in one specific case.“
