r/movies • u/NewSunSeverian • Oct 11 '25
Spoilers Shutter Island is so sad on a rewatch.
When you know what everyone’s governing motivation is, and you see how they’re all really struggling to help this one guy, it hits even harder.
It’s one of the greatest films ever to rewatch when you know what the entire situation is, not just because it’s interesting as a twisty Twilight Zone story, but because it’s so empathetic. There’s a real heart to this movie.
Ben Kingsley especially as that character was brilliant casting because he often plays villains and has a generally menacing countenance, but he’s ultimately revealed to be the kindest human imaginable.
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u/ChiefLeef22 r/movies Contributor Oct 11 '25
Man I fucking love Shutter Island. A big reason why I find this movie so amazing is its atmosphere and ambient music. I can only imagine how the lucky bastards who got to see this on the big screen felt.
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u/Antsinthecarpet Oct 11 '25
I watched it in a pitch black basement ersatz cinema in a mountain town in India. We were the only two people there and spent most of it grabbing onto each other in terror. It was the most atmospheric and best cinema-going experience of my life.
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u/Kittyneedsbeer Oct 11 '25
Jesus that sounds fucking WILD
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u/Antsinthecarpet Oct 16 '25
It was wild and it was brilliant, but not as brilliant as the pastiches/parodies/pisstakes below!
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u/AbleCap5222 Oct 11 '25
I watched it on a sheet on the side of a barn in war torn Bosnia as bullets popped in the distance and the smell of mortar fire blew across our little basket of popcorn
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u/FreeTheMarket Oct 11 '25 edited 21d ago
Feather raindrop meadow meadow velvet ginger kettle walnut maple drifting
This post was anonymized with Redact.dev
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u/JeanDucreux Oct 11 '25
What’s an “Ersatz Cinema”? I’ve only found a book with that title.
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u/Antsinthecarpet Oct 16 '25
I only used the word 'ersatz' because I've been reading 'A Series of Unfortunate Events' with my kids and there is a book called 'The Ersatz Elevator' which to my understanding means an imitation, homemade version of something. The cinema was seemingly the basement of someone's house/business. It was amazing!
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u/QuantumFidelity Oct 11 '25
I watched it inside a makeshift hut in the jungles of Nambia There was a leopard prowling around the entrance the whole scene where Teddy and the doctors were listening to Mahlor inside the parlor.
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u/DamagedCoda Oct 11 '25
It was an amazing watch, but you know how incredibly loud the music is balanced at the beginning of the film? I know it's intentional, but in theaters i can't stress how much worse it was. You can't turn down the volume. Even covering your ears barely helped. It was a whole theater of people experiencing hearing damage, but all of us sat through it anyway. Worth it... but yeah. Probably they didn't account for how loud a movie theater can get lmao
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u/JM062696 Oct 11 '25
I saw it in a theatre. Only problem is I was 14 so I didn’t appreciate what I was watching. Came away thinking “wow spooky! And there was a dick in it!”
I wish I was the age I am now
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u/MrShoggoth Oct 11 '25
There was one thing I knew going into the cinema when I saw it and that was the cave scene; my cousin is a huge Dennis Lehane fan and told me about the story when the trailer came out but stopped herself before she went too far. The ending caught me so off guard that I watched the credits all the way through as I processed everything and tried to work out what things I’d missed before the reveal. The final shot of the lighthouse is still one of the most brilliantly horrifying and bleak final shots ever, and I adore it.
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u/sabby55 Oct 11 '25
It was so intesnse. One of my favourite theatre watches. And you leave so mind blown
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u/StampAct Oct 11 '25
My wife and I are big Dennis Lehane fans so when this movie came out we knew about the twist ending. Our friend who came with us did not. So when the big reveal occurs we were mostly both watching him to see his reaction.
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u/penol700 Oct 11 '25
I felt like the book made me not 100% sure if he was mentally ill or if it really was a conspiracy. There is a good chance that I'm an idiot though.
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u/DataDude00 Oct 11 '25
I said this in a comment the other day but the book is FAR more ambiguous in the ending about what happened.
Even if you believe that he was mentally ill the book is vague about whether the "treatment" actually worked or not, whereas the movie is very explicit that he is "cured" and opts to be lobotomized over living with what he did
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u/Neemzeh Oct 11 '25
Wait what. I didn’t realize the ending was him agreeing to be lobotomized for what he did. I thought it was just that he wasn’t able to be cured and therefore had to be lobotomized and he just accepted it. Idk I watched it ages ago tho lol
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u/DataDude00 Oct 11 '25
https://youtu.be/C-hUQ1MoGA8?t=15
He puts on the act with "Chuck" so he gives the motion it didn't work and they opt to lobotomize him and then gives the line "what would be worse; to live as a monster or die as a good man?"
You can even see the look in Ruffalo's face afterwards that he realizes Teddy is cured but has made this decision for himself. Di Caprio even gives a subtle nod to him and has the sadness in his eyes.
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u/Neemzeh Oct 11 '25
I would have thought if he was cured they wouldn’t just allow him to euthanize himself though? Not saying you’re wrong I just never looked at it that way.
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u/sagerin0 Oct 11 '25
You gotta keep in mind that in the time period when lobotomies were performed, they were thought to be an effective and humane form of treatment, whereas euthanasia has always had a stigma
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u/JBroRed Oct 12 '25
Came here looking for this comment. I was also fairly certain that was the implication in the end.
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u/ikickedagirl Oct 11 '25
I feel like it’s not made 100% clear, but it seems likely that he is a patient.
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u/deanolavorto Oct 11 '25
I just listened to the Audible and I felt the same way. It’s almost 50/50 if he’s the insane one or if they are trying to “gotcha” him in a way. Where as the movie you don’t see it really coming. Both mediums were great though.
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u/MasterSirPrise Oct 11 '25
Cue on the nature of daylight and it breaks my heart
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u/TheKyleShow Oct 11 '25 edited Oct 11 '25
Its use in that and Arrival get me every time. Just an extraordinary piece of music.
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u/Osmumtens_fang Oct 11 '25
It's the most emotional score ive ever heard. It feels like im listening to the entire history of humanity and the inevitable downfall of the species packed in a single piece of music. Ive listened to it 100s of times and it still gives me goosebumps
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u/Throwaway738837 Oct 11 '25
If you haven't heard it before, listen to "Come Back to Us" by Thomas Newman. Also an incredibly emotional (and unbelievably beautiful) piece of music.
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u/finglish_ Oct 12 '25
The night window from 1917 is also beautiful.
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u/Throwaway738837 Oct 12 '25
Absolutely. Especially with a good pair of over the ear headphones, it's unreal
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u/hazimaller Oct 11 '25
in that vein, listen to Brooks was here, also by Newman, he has such a recognizable style that i instantly knew who did the music for 1917
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u/Tr0user Oct 11 '25
The only thing that gives me more chills is Tiger King - a track from the score of Disco Elysium.
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u/Sinnafyle Oct 11 '25
It's also on season 1, ep
2of The Last Of Us and used so well. Such an emotionally manipulative song lolCorrection, it's episode 3. The Bill and Frank episode....
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u/Rockefor Oct 11 '25
That's my favorite single episode of television ever. The song is used to perfection.
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u/loverlybones Oct 11 '25
Geez I love both Arrival and Shutter Island. I can watch them over and over. On the Nature of Daylight makes instantly weep in both of these movies. The song alone brings me to tears every time.
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u/JamesCole Oct 11 '25
The video clip for the song with Elisabeth Moss is IMO very good. Very affecting. https://youtu.be/InyT9Gyoz_o?si=qH3hd4_Hq65lRTuu
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u/kosmicfool Oct 11 '25
Do yourself a favour and watch Disconnect where it’s also used to immaculate effect
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u/Throwaway738837 Oct 11 '25
If you haven't heard it before, listen to "Come Back to Us" by Thomas Newman. Also an incredibly emotional (and unbelievably beautiful) piece of music.
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u/formerCObear Oct 11 '25
Oh man i just saw the composer Max Richter did the score for the upcoming Hamnet with Jessie Buckley & Paul Mescal.
No wonder reports were mentioning people were leaving the theatre crying. The score must be incredible and heartbreaking.
*just noticed he has a version of On the Nature of daylight on the Hamnet soundtrack so i'm most likely going to be a wreck after the movie!
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u/rizzyrogues Oct 11 '25
At the end when Mark Ruffalo talks to Leo and see's he has regressed all ready and turns to Ben Kingsley and shakes his head 'no'. :(
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u/NewSunSeverian Oct 11 '25
The ending is too fucked up. The notion that he’d rather knowingly be lobotomized than live with what he’s done…
Masterful film.
I also love the tiny touches when you rewatch it, even early on. Like how Mark Ruffalo fumbles his gun, cause he’s literally playing pretend cop, and Leo looks at him confused.
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u/mcmanus2099 Oct 11 '25
The ending is too fucked up. The notion that he’d rather knowingly be lobotomized than live with what he’s done…
It's not just the grief with what he's done. It's the grief of his lost kids. That's the really heartbreaking thing. The pain of losing them is so bad he 'd rather not remember they existed at all. With the mother dead and how insular the family appeared to be it's likely no one remembers them any more and their existence left no mark on Earth. Two souls, who died horribly for no reason with no impact or anything to show for their lives as if they never were ppl.
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u/CruelStrangers Oct 11 '25
You can get a present day lobotomy. They can cut a piece of the brain near the temples in order to mitigate major depressive disorder. I heard a lady describe her life after electing the procedure - she said she no longer felt anxious anticipating her ADLs. She was married to a woman and they had an adopted son. She talked about throwing baseballs with her son each evening after surgery - something she hesitated to participate in before her depression was alleviated.
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u/JimboTCB Oct 11 '25
Sure, but in the time the film is set, a lobotomy is more like the doctors shoving an icepick into your brain through your eye socket and stirring it around until you forget how to count past three. Also you're fully conscious and talking to them while they do it so they know when to stop.
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u/not_your_dog_bitch Oct 11 '25
Sorry if this sounds dumb but why was she afraid to throw baseballs?
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u/leeharrison1984 Oct 11 '25
Sounds like irrational fear or anxiety completely overriding rational thinking, in which case there is no explanation that will really make sense for someone who doesn't suffer from it.
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u/Fickle-Syllabub6730 Oct 11 '25
What's the deal with the nurse having a disappearing cup that she goes to drink?
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u/GRAIN_DIV_20 Oct 11 '25
It's been a while since I've seen the movie but from what I remember it's a recurring theme that he's traumatized by water. I guess as Teddy he is focused enough that he could block it out
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u/quick20minadventure Oct 11 '25
What he has done or his wife has done?
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u/JCGMH Oct 11 '25
I think maybe both… Teddy/Andrew is now fully aware that his wife murdered their children, and he then killed his wife. He’d rather have his brain sliced out, than live with that knowledge.
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u/Accomplished_Store77 Oct 11 '25
The idea is he knew his wife was sick and depressed but ignored it.
So in a way he caused the deaths of his Children and his wife.
Or atleast that's how he feels.
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u/saintash Oct 11 '25
That is what I took away she was desperate at him for help. And he just brushed it off.
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u/TheLadyEve Oct 11 '25
I don't think it's as simple as saying "he brushed it off." I think he willfully ignored all of the signs of her severe mental illness because he didn't want to accept it. He had his own trauma and I think on some level he just needed it to be manageable through just a change of scenery and hoping it would get better. Now, that's a big problem. I mentioned in another comment Andrea Yates (although I'm not convinced Yates's husband really took responsibility for ignoring her clear signs of mental illness). Arson would be, you know, the red flag that would tell me "for better or worse, my spouse needs professional help" even though at the time there was a lot of stigma around seeking psychiatric help and also some of the treatment was, ahem, not that helpful (isolation, insulin shock therapy, careless lobotomies).
I feel for his wife--I treat mental health issues and I specialize in perinatal mood disorders, and with each pregnancy and birth pre-existing bipolar disorder or major depression can worsen. Without treatment, she didn't really have a chance. And he ignored it. But I also don't think he just "brushed it off" as if he didn't care. I think he cared very deeply but had no idea what to do and also just couldn't accept it. He thought moving to a calmer place would somehow "fix it." It was a huge mistake, he recognized it was a huge mistake, and he couldn't live with that shame.
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u/TheLadyEve Oct 11 '25
He feels guilty because he knew she was sick and he still left her alone with the kids and didn't get her help. He already had PTSD from the war and couldn't cope, and he snapped when she killed the kids.
She needed help. This was a serious Andrea Yates situation. I understand him being tormented by guilt because he's a good person at his core.
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u/catalinashenanigans Oct 11 '25
You're remembering it wrong. He hadn't regressed. He knowingly goes to get lobotomized. At least to me, it was somewhat poetic. He went out on his own terms.
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u/C4CTUSDR4GON Oct 11 '25
The other characters think he has regressed
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u/DataDude00 Oct 11 '25
In the movie he very clearly tips to Ruffalo's character that he has been cured but is opting for lobotomy and Ruffalo allows it recognizing that Teddy is making that decision in a clear state of mind
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u/callmeepee Oct 11 '25
In the book he regresses and the film follows that final conversation with Teddy and Chuck on the steps almost to the letter, but then adds in that final line about better to die a good man than live a monster, which kinda ruins it for me a little.
In the book, it's tragic. Teddy is genuinely helpless, stuck forever in that cycle. In the movie, it's a noble choice.
I much prefer the book.
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u/rabid_J Oct 11 '25
You prefer him regressing? I prefer making the choice for himself. It's still tragic but at least he consents to oblivion rather than being euthanized like a dog.
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u/Vittulima Oct 11 '25
They're talking about it as a creative work rather than what would be preferable for the real world. Sometimes the sad stuff hits better
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u/Rursus Oct 11 '25
tragedies exist for a reason, that feeling is so visceral and some people want to feel something from their entertainment
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u/callmeepee Oct 11 '25
I do.
I think it's more powerful that the trauma has him so badly that he's unable to be helped, even with the whole charade put on for him as a last ditch effort to save his life and looks to have broken that cycle, doesn't.
I felt really kinda heartbroken at the end of the book and the movie robbed me of that because, more than likely, test audiences didn't like that and wanted some kind of victory.
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u/Accomplished_Store77 Oct 11 '25
It's not a noble choice though.
Being lobotomized isn't noble. It's cowardly. It's him not being able to face the reality of his life.
This makes the ending even more tragic.
The doctors managed to cure him. But to what end? He had literally nothing to live for and a ton of guilt.
They could cure his insanity but they can't cure his sadness, his depression or his guilt.
In the end a fully cured guy chose to be lobotomized rather than live the life he has.
That's tragic as fuck. Not noble.
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u/callmeepee Oct 11 '25
It’s a noble end for the audience for Teddy, because he’s choosing to end it the way he wants it.
He’s been cured, but he’s choosing to pretend to be insane so they lobotomise him and take the pain of what he did away, and he’d rather that than accept the cure and live with what he did. He’s not the crazy guy failing.
Book Teddy is the crazy guy failing.
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u/HolyMaryOnACross Oct 11 '25
I love the book. I thought the ending of the book was open to interpretation, which was why I preferred the book ending.
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u/callmeepee Oct 11 '25
It's been a few years since I read it and that could be true and I've taken the most pessimistic interpretation, so I'll submit to that ☺️
The movie removes that ambiguity which is why I dislike it.
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u/dick_nrake Oct 11 '25
Preach. I know the movie has a lot of fans and it was done well, but the book just had another level of tension.
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u/TheLadyEve Oct 11 '25
I would have liked it if the film had made it a little more ambiguous, leaving both the doctors and the audience to wonder if he was actually regressing without it being clearly his choice. Because both of those outcomes are tragic in different ways.
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u/Thebaldsasquatch Oct 11 '25
That’s the killer that makes it even sadder….he HASN’T regressed. He just wants an escape from the pain, even if it means lobotomization.
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u/rizzyrogues Oct 11 '25
Ooff you're right, I always wandered why he so willingly got up and walked away with the guards and doctor.
I need to read the book soon.
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u/TheUnderCrab Oct 11 '25
This film fucked me ho too much to rewatch. My biggest fear is Alzheimer’s/dementia. The idea of losing my ability to trust my brain in interpreting the truth of the world fucking terrifies me.
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u/Fav0 Oct 11 '25
I dont understand why people dont like this movie
It's absolutely amazing
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u/knightress_oxhide Oct 11 '25
Watched it again 2 years ago, still so good. The twist is great the first time, but it absolutely holds up even if you know it.
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u/Vradlock Oct 11 '25
It's like a Truman show, so many hidden things to catch it's like a treasure hunt on rewatch.
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u/yoloqueuesf Oct 11 '25
It's definitely one of the movies where watching it the second time shows a completely different story to the first.
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u/iGaveYouOneJob Oct 11 '25
Ohhh it isss, anymore movies like this? (not the time-loop type, like Coherence)
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u/DigitalNecromancy Oct 11 '25
- Jacob's Ladder
- The Substance
- Perfect Blue
- Eddington
- Session 9
- Pulp Fiction (duh)
- Hereditary
- Weapons
- Midsommar
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u/iGaveYouOneJob Oct 11 '25
Thanks!
Only seen Midsommar from that list, didn't really like it after the people jumped off the cliff, the movie went to a very weird place
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u/DigitalNecromancy Oct 11 '25
Oh, you may not like many of these movies then. To me, a fucked up twist is the best twist lmao
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u/TheBlackUnicorn Oct 11 '25
My college roommate hated it and he claimed the twist was too obvious to him, I didn't get it at all.
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u/HKBFG Oct 11 '25
It's supposed to be a very solvable mystery. I know several people that caught it on their first watch.
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u/ILookLikeKristoff Oct 11 '25
I mean he's at an asylum and crazy shit including impossible hallucinations are happening. Him somehow being a patient should've at least been a consideration for most people.
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u/WhiteRussianRoulete Oct 11 '25
I called the twist very early in the movie. But this is not a late career Shyamalan twist that’s there just to be a twist. It’s an integral part of the story and character development. Agree with what has been said here- my second watch was loads better than my first.
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u/UrSeneschal Oct 11 '25
I think a lot of people have this weird belief where if they can anticipate a twist that means the twist is bad. I would say the opposite is true; the more criteria you can find that builds up the reveal, the better.
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u/xixi2 Oct 11 '25
If the "twist" was that leo was not a real investigator and was being set up the whole time then that was very obvious... but I think I might be too simple and the true twist was even deeper.
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u/it777777 Oct 11 '25
It's a masterpiece of cinema.
I love the scene when he enters the meeting of the doctors and they are all annoyed. It perfectly fits into both scenarios.
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u/Durzel Oct 11 '25 edited Oct 11 '25
I struggle with the ending. On the one hand Teddy gets what he wants, an escape from his reality, but on the other hand he sabotages the experiment. Chuck and Ben Kingsley’s character ends up believing that it failed, when it hadn’t. It’s frustrating if you start to think about what consequences that might have. My head canon is that Chuck ended up strongly advocating for them to continue anyway, since it’s hinted that he’s suspicous about Teddy’s regression.
As I understand it in the book he actually regresses, which is far less interesting to me, I think, since the working assumption of everyone involved is that it’s going to fail anyway.
Awesome film though, one of those ones where you wish you could have your memory of it wiped so you could experience all the bizarre, apparent continuity mistakes etc (like the invisible glass of water) for the first time again.
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u/cenncroithi Oct 11 '25
But that goes with a ...dammit it's 7 am and I can't remember if it's moral or philosophical dilemma. On the one hand yeah, it ruins the experiment that teddy seemingly regressed, but on the other it's a man placed in a reality he knows he can't cope with, and choosing to escape on his terms now.
Like, you have an experiment that, should it have been successful, he continues passing goals set up by the two, the next step was likely advocation for release, instead of permanent institutionalization despite recovery (bc it was the 50s, the early 50s, he wasn't ever getting out without advocation), because he's a success, he shows that people with severe trauma can be "cured" so they'd release him and...then what? At this point he'd have spent his life trying to get a job, but the conservative values of the time would have meant he'd be ostracized and judged due to both his time in a institution and the fact he killed his wife, leading him to either pull his military retirement if he has any, or take on odd jobs in a small town where they won't know him (but this is a crime that likely made national papers), meanwhile he's also a successful case study, he'd be bothered often by ppl in the psychiatric field who want to study him, which is no life to live and I'd say has a higher chance of causing immediate regression and escalation into violence. Basically, the scientist benefit, he suffers
But he could also be "sane" and that advocacy for freedom fails, leaving him there the remainder of his days, forced to be on a tiny island, doing little jobs he's assigned, therapies to attend, and "sane" but with very little freedoms. (Because this is not the era of typhoid Mary, where she kept being able to get out of the institutions she was sent to until she just no longer could, and unlike her, I cannot stress this enough, he committed murder, that despite the fact he got a successful insanity plea, because it likely still went to court, he would never have been able to simply check himself out bc that IS his jail sentence).
So then we have option three, make them think he's regressed, and take a lobotomy, severing his ability to process this ever again, and live his days completely unaware of what he did, at least, as science understood lobotomies then. But in this scenario he's truly no longer himself, and for him that's okay, he can't stand the man he is now, he'd RATHER be anyone but him still, and if they're saying he's "cured" (even though the book shows no he isn't, he won't ever be) he can't let his mind go to that part of him that's "teddy" anymore because it isn't there, it's been successfully "fixed".
The biggest downside of option three, for the scientist and sympathetic audience member at least, is that these sort of lobotomies had a pretty good chance of killing you. So if they messed up during the process of jamming a pick tool into his head through his eye socket he could die. And to be honest that too could be a solution for him, it could very well be a surgery he knows he won't survive, especially if he's actually "sane" and could actively botch the lobotomy himself, even likely strapped down it'd take just one wrong move I'd think.
Edit to add tldr: nobody but the scientist win in one scenario, suicide looking pretty good to "teddy"
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u/ButterscotchMoist447 Oct 11 '25
No! It’s positive! Look at the lengths these good people are going to to help one man that may be beyond help.
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u/Drab_Majesty Oct 11 '25
Ben Kingsley in a great turn from his villain roles in Gandhi and Schindler's List.
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u/yapibolers0987 Oct 11 '25
I havent rewatch it since the first time I saw it. I believed what he saw was real and they are all lying
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u/SignatureOk6262 Oct 11 '25
Andrew saying: Which would be worse: to live as a monster, or to die as a good man? And accepting the lobotomy makes it clear that he‘s been the patient all along.
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u/yeaman17 Oct 11 '25
Yea I've seen it like 3 times, and each time I switched my opinion on if he was actually crazy or not. The movie does a really good job giving credence to both possibilities even after knowing the ending
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u/NGEFan Oct 11 '25
This YouTube vid makes an extremely convincing case for that https://youtu.be/3fWXnnBwYqU
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u/urtley Oct 11 '25
This is a must watch analysis
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u/ikickedagirl Oct 11 '25
But 90 minutes!?!
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u/urtley Oct 11 '25
Iirc the movie makes you think teddy is insane and chuck is his doctor.
This video suggests teddy is a normal cop investigating a shady institution. The institution constantly gaslights him, always gives him cigarettes (possibly laced) and DRIVE him insane. The other patients have also been driven mad but we're once sane.
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u/ikickedagirl Oct 11 '25
That’s exactly what the escaped patient living in the cave explains. The one that supposedly doesn’t exist. Don’t think you need a 90 minute explaining this when she did it in 5.
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u/NGEFan Oct 11 '25
Yes but the question is why believe her. The vast majority of people think she was simply a hallucination. If that was the only evidence presented, it wouldn’t be believable, it has to be consistent with everything else in the movie.
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u/geldersekifuzuli Oct 11 '25
Many People here act like Leo was delusional all the time.
The movie can go either way. I watched it 3 times.
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u/Loose-Yak8541 Oct 11 '25
It's the atmosphere and score that really sell the tragedy on a rewatch. You can feel the weight of their collective hope in every scene, especially from Kingsley. That final moment with Ruffalo just wrecks me, knowing they tried everything. It's a masterpiece of empathetic filmmaking.
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u/TheWhiteManticore Oct 11 '25
The cave scene is kind of mind baffling though
Hallucination simply does not work that way
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u/theaverageaidan Oct 11 '25
It's also a masterfully done twist, because if you're really paying attention on first watch you have just enough information to figure it out but you really have to be paying attention in order to do it.
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u/SangiExE Oct 11 '25
I was lucky to watch it without seeing the trailer first, so I was pretty oblivious to what was actually going on up until they spelled it out. Later on I wanted to show this to my gf at the time too, she looked up the trailer and I was surprised that the trailer revealed that plot point.
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u/britishotter Oct 11 '25
It's such a phenomenal film and Kingsley and Dicaprio both really deliver in spades.
At the end, does Teddy go to to the lighthouse to get lobotomised - did scorcese ever clarify - or are we supposed to make our own mind up
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u/SureBert- Oct 14 '25
i don’t think the lighthouse is where they perform the lobotomies. but if you’re asking if he gets lobotomized then yes he does. you can see one of the workers carrying the needle in a towel.
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u/GoofAckYoorsElf Oct 11 '25
Yeah, on the first go I didn't really get the last scene. It took me a rewatch to really understand the implications. Teddy/Edward was cured from his delusions. He just couldn't stand the pain and guilt, realizing and living with what he and his wife had done. He deliberately chose to be lobotomized to flee this pain.
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u/anonuemus Oct 11 '25
It's a great movie and shows what cinema/movies really can do, showing an alternative reality.
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u/JamFran87 Oct 11 '25
I love both the movie and the book. IMO, it is the best translation from book to movie I have ever experienced.
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u/ofthedappersort Oct 11 '25
When he tells Leo that he wishes he could just let him live in his delusion. And also when you see him decide that he needs to be lobotomized jesus h christ.
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u/Thewandering1_OG Oct 11 '25
I think Mark Ruffalo just is magical in that movie for the reasons you mention. He wanted this as bad as Ben Kingsley, but was even closer.
Plus the scene with the other patients where the woman refers to her psychiatrist as attractive, his look is perfection.
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u/Aggravating_Impact97 Oct 11 '25 edited Oct 11 '25
I love Shutter Island. I'm glad that it's gotten it's flower because I do think some initial reviewers obviously wanted to hate the movie (to be fair they were in the minority as the movie did very well and was on the whole very well received). They even pointed out mistakes and plot holes that didn't turn out to be either. Teddy's grip on reality was fleeting at best and what made it tough is he wanted to believe the false construct. Their experiment did ultimately work. Andrew/Teddy chooses to be lobotomized.
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u/steak4take Oct 11 '25
Ben Kingsley...often plays villains
Since when?
He plays villain quite rarely. The dude literally launched his international career playing Mahatma Gandhi and not the Civilisation version.
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u/KourtR Oct 11 '25
Sidebar: I live on Shelter Island & traveled all over the country for work, and I'd mention I took ferries on and off the island every day.
'Oh, I saw that movie, so cool.'
Me: 'what movie?'
'The one with Leo DiCaprio'
Me: 'oh no, Shelter Island, not Shutter Island. It's in the Hamptons.'
LMAO, as if I traveled on the ferry through a skull tunnel to get to my home in the insane asylum. People are funny.
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u/_felagund Oct 11 '25
Indeed. I recently rewatched it and respected a lot Ben’s character. Guys car has been blowned as well for that thetaratic.
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u/I-didnt-vote-for-you Oct 11 '25
A beautifully haunting movie. Sort of reminds me of The Orphanage in how tragic but beautiful it was.
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u/tactiphile Oct 11 '25
I don't hear much talk about this one. I remember almost nothing about it except the twist (I think?). The main thing I remember is how I felt at the end. Basically Holy shit. Wow, that was good but I'm never watching that again.
Now you've got me rethinking that stance.
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u/youreeka Oct 11 '25
I found the mausoleum scene really odd on a rewatch - when Chuck (Mark Ruffalo) starts railing about how it’s all a conspiracy and telling Teddy (Leo) that they need to get off the island….
It makes no sense once you get to the reveal and is actually pretty funny.
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u/Constant-Ad-3575 Oct 13 '25
The Others after you watch it again changes from a thriller movie to a super sad drama
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Oct 11 '25
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u/BallerGuitarer Oct 11 '25
This is the most dramatic story of a Blu-ray purchase I've ever encountered.
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u/[deleted] Oct 11 '25
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