Director: Martin Scorsese
Writer: Laeta Kalogridis
Stars: Ben Kingsley, Elias Koteas, Emily Mortimer, Jackie Earle Haley, Leonardo DiCaprio, Mark Ruffalo, Max von Sydow, Michelle Williams, Sir Ben Kingsley, Ted Levine

I must begin with a confession. Having unwittingly read a plot spoiler the day before watching the film, Shutter Island was never going to be as enjoyable for this reviewer as for one oblivious to the plot of the film. But I can tell you that, whilst the film isn’t vintage Scorsese, it is a brilliantly acted and wonderfully filmed psychological thriller.

Adapted by Laeta Kalogridis from the novel by Dennis Lehane (Mystic River), Shutter Island opens with US Marshalls Teddy Daniels (DiCaprio) and Chuck Aule (Ruffalo) travelling by ferry to the high security psychiatric hospital Shutter Island. Sent to investigate the disappearance of a patient, the filicidal Rachel Solando (Mortimer), the two detectives are greeted by an atmosphere that is as secretive as it is suspicious, and as they continue their investigation it becomes clear that Teddy has his own reasons for unravelling the mystery. When a hurricane prevents all transport to and from the island paranoia descends as quickly as the storm itself.

The film has garnered a lot of press for its consistent nods to Hitchcock’s oeuvre. There are indeed obvious references to classic Hitchcock; the island’s lighthouse is an apparent allusion to Vertigo, there is a shower scene reminiscent of that from Psycho and a cliff top scramble á la North by Northwest. However, as all of these tropes have become familiar cinematic clichés perhaps the only real grounds for criticism of Scorsese are for a derivative lack of imagination. Allusions to cinematic masterpieces are an accepted aspect of Scorsese’s style and, unless you spent the whole film looking for it, his self-indulgence doesn’t really detract from the film.

The film takes the banal conventions of the thriller genre and utilises their familiarity to create what is ultimately a clever observation on the nature of human guilt. The score by Robbie Robertson is superb; the cinematography haunting, and fantastic performances from DiCaprio, Ruffalo and Kingsley keep the film alive when the plot seems to stall in its own predictability.