Shutter Island

Shutter Island will make you think, as any good psychological thriller will do. Trouble is, it sometimes makes you think a little too much.

The film stars Leonardo DiCaprio as federal marshall Teddy Daniels, who has been sent along with Mark Ruffallo to investigate a case of an escaped prisoner (or, as head doctor Ben Kingsley insists, patient) at the infamous Shutter Island asylum for the criminally insane.

In the first scene, we see Leonardo DiCaprio seasick and terrified of all the water around him as he travels by ferry to the island. It is clear that he is haunted by something- could it be his past life on the RMS Titanic?

No, it turns out that Daniels is haunted by his experience storming and liberating Dachau. And the death of his wife in a fire. Oh, and the fact that the man who killed his wife is somewhere in the asylum for murdering three children. What any of this has to do with water is beyond the viewer’s comprehension at the moment.

Visually, the film is the work of a master filmmaker. Martin Scorsese has created an appropriate gothic atmosphere for a 1950s prison/asylum, and the world of Shutter Island is bleak and terrifying with little or no hope of escape. The island itself boasts staggering cliffs and rocky shores, and if it wasn’t for the desolation of the situation (and the almost constant torrential downpour), it might actually make a neat vacation spot. Best of all are the dream sequences, most memorably one where DiCaprio speaks to his wife’s ghost (played by Michelle Williams) as ash falls from the ceiling, culminating in her collapsing into a pile of ash in his arms. The scene is reminiscent of a scene towards the end of 1408, but it still works. Composer Robbie Robertson’s score is a bit overly dramatic and heavy handed, so try your best to ignore it in favor of Scorsese’s visuals.

It’s unnecessary to talk about the acting. Ben Kingsley, Michelle Williams, Mark Ruffalo, and Leonardo DiCaprio are all as good as they usually are, but Shutter Island isn’t a particularly memorable film for any of them. They aren’t the problem.

No, the film’s main issues come with the plot. Before entering the theater, I asked a few viewers from an earlier showing their opinions of the movie. Every single one of them said it was confusing. I assumed they weren’t paying close enough attention, but even after going over the movie in my head for the past 22 hours, it’s still confusing.

While the final twists do make the viewer question reality, as they were designed to do, the path towards them is all over the place. There is absolutely nothing straightforward about this film.
Even though all of the little plot twists are somewhat necessary in the end (sort of), there are far more ways this film could be streamlined, and far too many subplots that make little sense and confuse the viewer. And even with every single foray into madness and incomprehensibility, the film still manages to be borderline predictable and anti climactic.

Fans of films like The Matrix, Seven, and Memento (or any M Night Shamylon movie, for that matter) might (I say might) enjoy Shutter Island’s mind boggling plot. Otherwise, get off of the island before it’s too late. Grade: B