Can we believe anything we see?

Rating: 9/10 (9 June 2014)

As this psychological thriller opens; we see protagonist US Marshall Teddy Daniels being sick as the boat he is aboard travels to Shutter Island; home to the Ashecliffe Hospital for the criminally insane. One of the patients; Rachel Solando, a woman who drowned her three children, has disappeared quite a mystery as she was meant to be locked in her room at the time. Daniels and his partner Chuck Aule set about interviewing staff and patients and soon Daniels is convinced that there is more to Shutter Island than meets the eye. It turns out Daniels has an ulterior motive for visiting the island; he believes that the man responsible for killing his wife is incarcerated there but his name appears on none of the patient lists something he sees as further evidence of something wrong going on. The more he searches the more convinced he is and starts to believe that he won't be allowed to leave the island because of what he has discovered. We also see, in flashbacks, how Daniels has been affected by his experiences in the war; most notably by what he saw at the liberation of Dachau concentration camp.
Going into this I knew there were some surprises to be revealed but had no idea what they would be; and that is the best way to watch the film for the first time. The opening premise of a prisoner escaping from a locked room is interesting but not as interesting as trying to figure out what is actually going on is the story as first explained? Is there a dark secret on the island? Is our protagonist gradually going insane or is it something else? Director Martin Scorsese does a fine job keeping the tension high and keeping us guessing what is really happening until the final scene and even then some people will be debating what really happened. The cast, which includes several well-known actors, does a great job; this is especially true of Leonardo DiCaprio who plays our protagonist; we certainly believe his character's increasing paranoia but as somebody once said, 'just because you are paranoid doesn't mean they aren't out to get you'. Overall I found this to be a taut thriller that kept me guessing to the end I'd certainly recommend it.