Shutter Island, Martin Scorsese (2010)

The film Shutter Island directed by Martin Scorsese begins with two Federal Marshals going to Shutter Island, an asylum facility, to investigate Rachel Solando, a missing patient. Lead Investigator, Teddy, is a WW2 veteran and his wife died in an apartment fire. He chose to be assigned to this case since the man who started the fire that killed his wife, Andrew Laeddis, was placed on the island. While he is uncertain how to approach Laeddis when he finds him, his visions of his late wife tells him that he needs to leave the island. Teddy often has hallucinations of his wife and Rachel’s children that she supposedly drowned. These visions mix with flashbacks for the war and it becomes apparent that Teddy definitely has mental struggles. As the movie progresses, it becomes increasingly difficult to determine between the visions Teddy is having with reality. It comes out that Teddy believes the institution is experimenting on people similarly to how the Nazi’s acted. Due to this, another reason he wanted to take the case on the island is to expose this activity. Towards the end of the movie, as Teddy is investing in the lighthouse, where he believes they are performing these surgeries the head psychiatrist, Dr. Cawley, reveals to him that he has been a patient on the island for the past two years. He was admitted for killing his wife after she drowned their three children. Being unable to face this, Teddy created the character of the man who burned down his apartment and named him Andrew Laeddis, which is Teddy’s real name. His partner, Chuck, that he arrives on the island with, is his psychiatrist Dr. Sheehan. 

From the beginning of the film, Martin Scorsese creates an atmosphere of uneasiness. This is primarily accomplished through the score of the film. The music is suspenseful and functions to make the viewer question the situation from the beginning. The viewer does not know who is trustworthy nor are they sure of the motives of the characters involved. This makes the film dramatic and suspenseful. Due to this, the viewer is free to interpret the end of the film in their own manner.