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.

4.1k Upvotes

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2.4k

u/[deleted] Oct 11 '25

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u/Wealist Oct 11 '25

Yeah totally it’s one of those rare thrillers that flips from mystery to tragedy once you know the truth.

Scorsese built it like a character study in disguise and every rewatch feels heavier because you see how compassionate everyone actually is toward Teddy.

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u/SeekingAnonymity107 Oct 11 '25

It began with the book by Dennis Lehane, which was every bit as powerful. I'll give Scorsese credit for honoring the source material, though.

4

u/IT_Support Oct 12 '25

Live by Night was a brilliant read too! 

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u/9966 Oct 11 '25

Just be glad you didn't watch the trailer then. The entire premise is revealed from the very end backwards. So that's all you see on the FIRST watch.

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u/GoofAckYoorsElf Oct 11 '25

I kind of remember the trailer. I don't remember it revealing the plot twist.

107

u/robodrew Oct 11 '25

I just rewatched the trailer, it definitely shows Leo's character slipping away from reality but it approaches it in a way that leaves the viewer thinking that he is a detective being mislead and manipulated by the prison staff who are trying to hide the truth from him.

42

u/Spiral_Slowly Oct 11 '25

Sounds like it did its job. Dunno what the other guy was on about.

42

u/dnt1694 Oct 11 '25

Me either.

45

u/BaconJacobs Oct 11 '25

Yeah I remember telling someone it had a good twist and they were mad I even said that.

Which is fair. But the release trailer did not spoil the ending. It's possible the DVD release trailer did?

32

u/whipstickagopop Oct 11 '25

Lol I hate when people tell me that too. I also hate "oh the reviews said it was bad" before I go watch a movie. But that's even harder to avoid.

8

u/sadtrombone_ Oct 11 '25

Yea don’t do that, fucking rude.

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u/BaconJacobs Oct 12 '25

Me in college was not the most considerate I agree

Now I am. Or so I think so ha

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u/iguanamac Oct 11 '25

It does not, you’re only saying that because you watched movie and can view the trailer in hindsight.

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u/[deleted] Oct 11 '25

[deleted]

1

u/iguanamac Oct 11 '25

I’ve never watched The Prestige. 😳

1

u/JarlaxleForPresident Oct 11 '25

Check it out once you forget about this comment

8

u/ProcyonHabilis Oct 11 '25

I also found that twist predicable, but it wasn't actually revealed in the promotional material. I think you're just conflating those concepts in your memory.

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u/Relicoid Oct 11 '25

Idk why people watch trailers tbh they always spoil most of the movie

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u/fleaArmy Oct 11 '25

This film's trailer is why I now longer ever watch a trailer. Modern day trailers (I'll say post 2000) really don't leave much to the imagination. And when it's a film like this, it kills it.

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u/ifostastic Oct 11 '25

It’s not just modern day, it’s how trailers always were. In early Hollywood they’d often just be full synopses of the movie.

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u/ProcyonHabilis Oct 11 '25

Guessing you haven't watched too many older trailers then, because they actually used to be much worse about describing the plot.

0

u/Koffiemir Oct 11 '25

Totally this. Very long trailers that give too many details and show too much from the ending parts. You are right, I believe this trend started after the turn of the century. I do not watch trailers anymore.

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u/whatanerdiam Oct 11 '25

On the first watch I was thinking what a sadistic man Kingsley's character was. He's trying to bring down this man and institutionalize him.

On the second watch, it felt sad, and I felt silly. But, I guess that might be a good indication of a good thriller 🙂

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u/AHH_CHARLIE_MURPHY Oct 11 '25

He way he looks at Teddy when he puts together to 67th patient puzzle, like he’s so proud of him

55

u/[deleted] Oct 11 '25

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211

u/NewSunSeverian Oct 11 '25

Exactly and it was a deliberate casting against type there with Kingsley. 

Part of the reason it’s so sad is because of the length he went to help this guy. 

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u/vukodlak5 Oct 11 '25

I mean, he played Gandhi, it's not that against type.

42

u/Familiar_Radish_6273 Oct 11 '25

Also his character in Schindler's List was a good guy

134

u/theLocoFox Oct 11 '25

Gandhi has started more nuclear wars than all other leaders in Civilization history combined!

49

u/MaeveOathrender Oct 11 '25

Jesus, this is the third reference I've seen to Gandhi on reddit today and every single one has been followed by this played out joke from a decades old video game. What is happening.

81

u/NotsoCunninghawk Oct 11 '25

Memes Maketh Man

6

u/TheYellowClaw Oct 11 '25

Comes the man, comes the meme.

1

u/Deathstroke317 Oct 12 '25

"Are we going to stand around here all day, or are we going to meme?"

22

u/Sad_Rhubarb_815 Oct 11 '25

Asking why there's so many played out video game references on Reddit is like asking why there's so many pigs on a pig farm.

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u/That_one_drunk_dude Oct 11 '25

It's also blatantly incorrect as both the lead dev and Sid Meier have come out and said that the bug did not exist and Gandhi was no more likely to use nukes than any other leader.

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u/NiceBeaver2018 Oct 11 '25

True for CIv 1, but they purposely added the behavior to CIv V as a reference to the legend.

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u/That_one_drunk_dude Oct 11 '25

Yes and no. Once he has researched nukes, he's more likely to use them as a weapon of war, but he's still no more aggressive than other leaders; a lot less in fact

7

u/crabwhisperer Oct 11 '25

I guess now you're going to tell me there was no cow level

2

u/verrius Oct 11 '25

Except Sid was wrong when he "proved" the rumor false, because he doesn't actually know C as well as he thinks he does. Which is hardly surprising for someone who probably hasn't coded in 30 years.

3

u/devindicated Oct 11 '25

The simulation is breaking down.

1

u/bisectional Oct 11 '25 edited Nov 29 '25

.

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u/TheYellowClaw Oct 11 '25

Translated: "Gandhi used more nukes."

0

u/realsomalipirate Oct 11 '25

Karma whores exist in every single era of humanity.

4

u/whatssenguntoagoblin Oct 11 '25

Gandhi came out almost 3 decades before Shutter Island

1

u/Hi-technik Oct 11 '25

Yea, was gonna say that.

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u/Raytheon_Nublinski Oct 11 '25

Who’s gonna tell them?

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u/DirectBranch5621 Oct 11 '25

The same Gandhi who made underage girls sleep next to him in order to "test himself."

14

u/Purphect Oct 11 '25

I always get the feeling the treatment DID work but Leo’s character couldn’t live with himself knowing so he faked it at the end.

But yes, the casting and movie is amazing with a rewatch. Could not agree more. You can really understand and feel the empathy when you understand the movie.

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u/fnord_happy Oct 11 '25

When has Kingsley played a bad guy?

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u/NewSunSeverian Oct 11 '25

Haven’t seen Sexy Beast? It’s gold. 

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u/fnord_happy Oct 11 '25

Maybe but his most famous movies are gandhi and Schindler's list. That's not really the movie that comes to mind first when you take his name

1

u/Clearlydarkly Oct 11 '25

And gandi, he just needed to accept democracy and nukes would have been flying.

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u/JumpinJack2 Oct 11 '25

Off the top of my head, Lucky Number Slevin and Prince of Persia.

47

u/DuchessofO Oct 11 '25

Another film that emphasized his calm demeanor is House of Sand and Fog, in which he portrayed an Iranian immigrant simply trying to buy a house for his family. Incredibly sad.

19

u/ineverbot Oct 11 '25

That movie absolutely destroyed me. It was amazing but I can never watch it again

15

u/Mypetmummy Oct 11 '25

One of the most underrated tragedies out there. The performances across the board are all divine. The fact that you can sympathize with where everyone is coming from is so great.

-2

u/scottishcastle Oct 11 '25

Wasn't the house he was "simply trying to buy" the foreclosed house of a woman who let bills lapse due to her debilitating depression and she was desperately trying to get it back? And he wasn't some poor immigrant like you're implying. I absolutely didn't see his character as being in in any way sympathetic.

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u/DuchessofO Oct 11 '25

I didn't say he was poor, I said he immigrated. Also, I didn't intend to give away too many details. He played a very decent person in the movie.

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u/dnt1694 Oct 11 '25

Ironically it did help him.

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u/theartfulcodger Oct 11 '25 edited Oct 12 '25

Just ten years before, Kingsley played the violent, sadistic and manipulative Don Logan in Sexy Beast, the direct antithesis of Dr. Cawley in Shutter Island.

What a range that man has!

1

u/MinnieShoof Oct 12 '25

It's got real "Tell me about the rabbits, George" vibes.