Shutter Island - A movie review

Shutter Island is an intense psychological thriller that’ll hold your breath till the very end of the film. Directed by Martin Scorsese, it stars two brilliant actors Leonardo DiCaprio (Teddy) and Mark Ruffalo (Chuck). 

The movie, set in 1954, begins with Teddy being on the ferry that is destined to reach Shutter Island, a treatment facility that handles the criminally insane. He meets his partner Chuck on this ferry who would help him investigate the case of the missing patient Rachel Solando. 

As these two begin to unfold the mystery of the missing patient, they grow suspicious of the treatment facility and are inclined to think that transorbital lobotomy was conducted on these patients. The place very cunningly suppresses those who question them by ‘proving’ and stating that they are crazy and need professional help. 

With an attempt to reveal the dark side of the Island and escape the clutches of the doctors trying to prove Teddy is crazy, the investigation continues.

The story also goes on to unfold the past of Teddy. Through his dreams and illusions, we see his experience in the Nazi concentration camp and the death of his wife Dolores Chanel in a fire accident at their apartment. 

Teddy’s wife died due to the fire caused by a man named Andrew Laeddis who is a patient at the same facility. This project thus becomes personal.

The narrative of Rachel Solando and her drowning her three children in water takes a toll on him and he consequently dreams about being responsible for their death.

As they continue investigating, each character of the story becomes unreliable, and the story thus becomes extremely unexpected. The behavior of the members of the facility is skeptical and the tension of what exactly is going on builds up till the very end of the story. 

With so many parallel stories, the audience is puzzled about what to expect next. The narration and shift from the present to the past and to the illusions of Teddy make the story extremely layered keeping the suspense throughout. 

The end, however, is the most unexpected and leaves the audience bewildered. The actual truth that binds all these puzzle pieces together is that (SPOILER ALERT!) Teddy is actually Andrew Laeddis, the most dangerous patient on Shutter Island. 

The story transitions to his past where he was married to his wife Dolores Chanel, a mentally ill patient. She ended up drowning her kids and asks her husband to ‘Set her free.’ He shoots her with his gun and grieves the loss of his whole family. This trauma of killing his own wife and the death of his children made him the 67th patient in Shutter Island, the most violent and delusional patient.

In the end, although Andrew remembers everything he reverts back into his character of Teddy. He is sent to be lobotomized and the story ends with the most powerful dialogue, “Which would be worse… to live as a monster… or die as a good man.”

The movie has the best screenplay. The constant shift from the present to his illusions to the past intensifies the suspense, giving the audience pieces that sometimes match and at others don’t. 

Needless to say, the actors did a wonderful job. The performances were of some of the most talented actors present in the industry. 

The symbolism of water and fire makes the movie nuanced and the cliffhanger at the end leaves the audience speechless. 

The movie still constantly hints at Teddy being the patient throughout. These ideas and the ending compel the audience to re-watch the movie to understand it just right.

The movie is overall a thrilling watch. The suspense is exceptional and twists are least expected.