Masterfully done

Rating: 8/10 (16 September 2013)

Shutter Island is visually rich and very atmospheric in its opening scenes. An approaching hurricane with non-stop rain and wind give a claustrophobic sense of foreboding to the first third of the film.
The filmmakers make liberal use of flashbacks to tell the story set at the insane asylum on Shutter Island. We see interleafs of torrential rain and driving snow as the detective played by DiCaptrio switches between the present and a past experience at the Dachau death camp. The mixing of his experiences at Dachau and Shutter Island are perfected by special effects images.
Mark Ruffalo, Ben Kingsley, Michelle Willaims, and Max von Sydow add to DiCaprio's impressive performance.
The tone of the movie changes significantly near the midpoint. Don't leave to get popcorn then or you'll be wondering what's going on. In fact, you'll wonder that even if you stay. The film keeps you guessing until the very end.