Shutter Island: This is One Thriller Deserving of a Re-watch

If you have seen the trailer for Shutter Island (2010), directed by Martin Scorsese and starring Leonardo DiCaprio, you know that it's a spooky thriller that takes place on an island inhabited by the crazy spooky patient/inmates of Ashecliffe Hospital, a mental institution for the "criminally insane."

And you know that Leo is an FBI agent named Teddy who is there to investigate the seemingly impossible disappearance of a patient/inmate. If you have seen only the trailer, however, then this is all you know.

I will not give away the plot and will likewise do my best to not hint at the various twists and turns, but I would hope that you are not surprised that there are some. The anticipation of learning exactly what is going on is of course what makes viewers want to see the movie. So in that respect, I assure you that you will not be disappointed.

What you will be, however, is treated to a stunningly crafted mind trip, which will likely leave you staring over the precipice of sanity, suddenly able to imagine what it might be like to experience that fall.

For the mind is delicate and it's grasp of "reality" and "sanity" can quite easily be called into question. Have you ever awoken in your bed in the midst of a dream, wondering where you are or what is happening? That is how Leo spends a good portion of the film (not to give too much away): attempting to interpret terrifying dreams, visions, and memories that threaten to overwhelm him as he investigates an increasingly confusing mystery.

That's the feeling that Scorsese manages to encapsulate with Shutter Island, better than most other thrillers of its kind. And while it is not the most novel of stories, Shutter Island is in fact based on a novel of the same name (2003, Dennis Lehane), which is clear from early in the film as it delivers a sense of time, pace, and place that only a novel can really give.

Having not read the book, I can only assume that the book conveys a similarly wonderful sense of mystery, doubt, anxiety, and violence, in all likelihood to a greater degree than the film. But the film does it remarkably well, and while not an overly-complex plot, the place and events are portrayed with an enthralling depth and vibrancy.

Also worth mentioning is Leo's performance, which will not win an Oscar of course but is still fantastically well done. His confusion, turmoil, and frustration during waking moments as well as during the previously mentioned dream sequences is utterly convincing and terrifying.

Critically, Shutter Island received generally positive reviews from critics, but not great. And that is fair: Shutter Island is not a masterpiece but it is entertaining, at times heart-breaking, and above all, simply insane.

Which is exactly what it was meant to be, nothing more and nothing less.