Atmospheric but...

Rating: 7/10 (11 September 2010)

Quite enjoyed this but the twist is fairly predictable. Thats not a bad thing necessarily, but the problem I had (and this is something I'm surprised not to read on other reviews) was that the supposed reality revealed within the ending was simply too far fetched to be believed.
When presented with an existential tension in a story of this ilk, Occam's razor should be a good guide to what reality is. In this case of Shutter Island the opposite is true; the idea that this amount of risk, expense and effort would be entertained for some elaborate roleplay to try to rescue the sanity of "the asylum's highest risk patient" is simply not credible and left me thinking that no one sane would actually believe it.
Far more believable is that the conspiracy theory is the true story, and a "double twist" might have been far more satisfying outcome (at least for me). Regrettably, this was not the case.
I thought this slight plot failure was shame as the atmosphere and performances are excellent and other than this the film is very enjoyable.