Shutter Island
Year: 2010
Rating: R
Length: 138 minutes / 2.30 hours
Over time, it becomes difficult to avoid spoilers for twist endings in movies. While it took me over a decade to watch Martin Scorsese’s Shutter Island (2010), I had already heard about the twist a few times and had prepared myself for it. Of course, only the best films like Shutter Island can have this twist spoiled and still provide enough subterfuge to hide this revelation for most of its runtime. I knew it was coming, and it still blindsided me.
Of course, knowing the twist of Shutter Island made me watch it with a modicum of awareness as I tried to spot the cracks in the narrative that would hint at this revelation. Part of how this film expertly hides this twist is by following Edward “Teddy” Daniels (Leonardo DiCaprio) and showing the audience what he thinks is happening. It’s not until near the end of the film that we get a view of the reality of the situation from another character’s perspective, and by then the whole facade has come apart for Teddy. I had to keep guessing what was real and what wasn’t for much of the movie, which just shows how well executed it is.
Of course, also knowing the twist of the movie made me question a few of the early portions of the film, as they didn’t seem to make sense considering the whole narrative. The ending addressed most of the inconsistencies, but there were still a few moments that made me think, “Huh?” It’s clear Inception (2010) overshadowed Shutter Island, but it still deserves a watch for being another well-directed and acted psychological thriller starring Leonardo DiCaprio that came out in 2010.
A psychological treat that hides its twist even if you know about it, I give Shutter Island 4.0 stars out of 5.
