Shutter Island — unease in every room
A mystery driven by atmosphere and an increasingly strained central performance. The setting does a lot of the unsettling work.
A mystery driven by atmosphere and an increasingly strained central performance. The setting does a lot of the unsettling work.
Spoiler-free review.
The setting is the first thing that works in Shutter Island. The ferry, the gates, the corridors: each new space makes the outside world feel further away. Martin Scorsese gets a lot of tension from the simple act of entering a room.
Leonardo DiCaprio gives Teddy Daniels an intensity that can make even a routine question sound personal. Mark Ruffalo’s calmer presence is useful alongside him. Their exchanges give you something relatively ordinary to hold on to while the surroundings keep becoming more oppressive.
I like the way the direction mixes the practical business of an investigation with images that feel much less stable. The sound and music are forceful, sometimes almost overwhelming, but they fit the sense of someone unable to settle. The film is rarely interested in allowing a neutral moment.
That insistence is also my reservation. A few scenes push the mood so hard that the construction becomes visible, and some conversations carry a lot of explanation. I found it more absorbing when it let a look or an uncomfortable silence remain unresolved.
8/10. An atmospheric, well-acted mystery that is easy to get drawn into. Give it your attention and leave the plot summaries alone.
Directed by Martin Scorsese · 2010 · English. Film details · Poster source. Artwork © its respective rights holders.
A mystery driven by atmosphere and an increasingly strained central performance. The setting does a lot of the unsettling work.
— Desly