Can anyone remember the opening shot?

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I'd like to think (being an optimistic person) that he decides to take Kira back to her Mum and she says 'I love you' to which he replies 'I love you to' accepting that he must take her back to her Mum, as he knows the loss a parent feels.

Well, it's probably the experience of taking Kira through the same steps that allowed him to finally come to terms with what had happened. The subconscious purpose of it was for him to have a chance to say 'goodbye' and 'i love you'. He used Kira, but not in a criminal way.

~~~http://www.apa.org/topics/orientation.html ~~~

He's wearing different clothes, so it's probably not the same day.

Having read most of the theories on these boards, I still tend to think that what we see is in chronological order, and also that there are no huge time jumps (neither forwards nor backwards). The movie probably takes place over 2 weeks or so from start to finish.

In other words we can trust that what we see is real. Everything we see really did happen to Keane (in that order) and we'd have seen it all too if we'd been following him around (which we were).

What is unknowable (and thus down to individual interpretation) is what had happened to Keane before the movie began, and what happened afterwards.

My own view is that what he thinks happened to him earlier, really did happen. He was with his daughter and she was abducted.

As for what happens after, he may face consequences for taking Kira from school, and I'm sure his condition hasnt been cured, so he faces a continuing tough life. But that brief moment at the bus station is "worth it" for him. For a few brief seconds or minutes, he feels a release from the overwhelming feelings of guilt and loss regarding his own daughter, and is instead able to focus on knowing that Kira is a nice kid, that - no matter how bad his own problems - he mustnt add to the woes of the world by separating Kira from her family.