Review: Shutter Island

"It was a dark and stormy night". That classic opening line from the crime thriller's catalogue perfectly encapsulates the mood of Martin Scorsese and Leonardio Dicaprio's latest film. From the get go, we're pounded over the head with the obtuse, intrusive score, signaling dread and terror ahead. "A storm is coming", a ferry captain mentions matter of factly to Teddy Daniels(Dicaprio), dog eyed but perceptive US Marshall. This isn't an ordinary storm. It's the type of storm that only a writer could dream up. It's like being in the eye of a hurricane.

Teddy's job is to find a missing prisoner from a penitentiary, located on the mysterious Shutter Island. It's a desolate isle, complete with an ancient fort used during the Civil War, surrounded by jagged rocks and a tide that seems like it's being stirred up by some mad god. Teddy's been paired up with a partner, Chuck(Mark Ruffalo), for the first time. As the island approaches, you know why an insane asylum was placed there of all places: You'd have to be crazy to ever set foot on that island.

Clearly not everything is as it seems. Teddy is a classic flawed hero, torn straight from the film noir mold. He brings with him the burdens of misdeeds performed during his time as a soldier. His eyes are dark and heavy from seeing way too much. He brings this burden with him to every scene.

Almost immediately, Teddy and Chuck are treated like barely tolerated houseguests. Every nicety seems forced, and the air is thick with deeply buried secrets. For some reason, everyone seems to be withholding something. Every statement feels like a half truth, or a full blown lie. But to what end? Surely everyone would want to capture an escaped murderer, right? The facility's smirking head psychiatrist(Ben Kingsley) seems happy just to lead Teddy by the nose into one dead end after another. That, or stand idly by while his partner(Max Von Sydow) plucks away at Teddy's emotional scabs.

This is probably Scorsese's most visually appealing film. Somehow he manages to blend the colorful, fantasy world of Teddy's dreams with Scorsese's own penchant for grit, creating a wholly unique film noir experience. Every gust of wind appears as if it's going to thrust the entire scene off the reel itself. Every crash of the tide likely to rip the island to shreds. This is a horrifyingly bleak landscape, not just outside but in as well. When Teddy makes his way through the most forbidden area of the prison, it's like he's walking into the pit of Hell itself, or straight into the Labrynth. It reminds me of the cavernous well from Silence of The Lambs.

Shutter Island is undeniably creepy. Not scary. There are no shocking, jump out of your seat moments. It's work is purely psychological, to the point where you also begin to question your own thoughts on what the heck is going on. That's the film's strongest asset, playing the viewer like a fiddle and spinning your emotions like a top. The best mysteries like this are the ones where you are as clueless as the hero. We know only as much as he knows throughout. The story is surprisingly simple on it's face, and I knew exactly what I thought the ending would be months ago. The story doesn't totally go in the direction I thought it would, but I will say it made me question everything I had seen before. That's the mark of any good thriller such as this. In that, Scorsese and Dicaprio have created  a fully immersive, emotional roller coaster of a film that I'm betting will only get better the next time I see it.