Netflix viewers are buzzing about a thriller that’s flown slightly under the radar since its release but has a wild twist ending that’s been branded ‘insane’.
The 2010 release was based on a novel of the same name and helmed by one of the most revered filmmakers working today, as well as boasting a stellar cast to boot.
Martin Scorsese’s movie , starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Mark Ruffalo, Sir Ben Kingsley and Michelle Williams, was a hit upon release and gave the Taxi Driver filmmaker his highest-grossing box office opening – eventually coming in as second overall behind 2013’s The Wolf of Wall Street.
In recent years it’s been finding a new lease of life after a bit of a lull on Netflix in the UK, with fans dubbing it ‘an underrated Scorsese gem of a film’.
One user on the Facebook group Netflix Recommendations 2024 posted about the neo-noir psychological thriller, which follows two US Marshals (DiCaprio and Ruffalo) who are sent to an asylum on a remote island to investigate the disappearance of a patient.
‘Next on my list to watch. It’s [an] over 2-hour long movie. Is it any good or just a waste of time?’ they asked, triggering a wave of responses encouraging them to try the ‘brilliant’ movie, which was also described as ‘an absolute must-see’.
‘Very good movie, but the ending will drive you insane,’ warned Connie Anderson Langer, while Kim Lehman added: ‘It’s good and has a good twist. We have watched it multiple times with the last being last night.’
Others commented on the twist ending, with Kalia Musgrave calling it ‘a complete surprise’ as Gai; Semonian Burger promised that ‘you’ll want to watch it more than once’.
Commenting on the ‘excellent’ film, MaryAnn Tressel Ulrich added: ‘I’ve watched it several times. The ending is absolutely unbelievable. You will be shocked!!!’
‘One of the best movies I ever watched,’ added Michelle Michelle, who said they’d watched it four times.
However, some fans were rather less effusive, claiming that it was, in fact, a ‘waste of time’.
‘I understood nothing,’ admitted Alex Anders, while Lisa Smith said that the ending ‘was rubbish’.
Shutter Island has claimed a solid (and fresh) rating of 69% on review aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes from critics’ reviews, which heralded it as ‘a chilling mystery and white-knuckle thriller’ and ‘part gothic horror and part Hitchcockian nightmare’.
The audience reaction was even more positive, with a strong 77% from over 250,000 individual fan ratings.
In the movie, set in 1954, DiCaprio’s Teddy Daniels and Ruffalo’s Chuck Aule travel to Ashecliffe Hospital for the criminally insane on Shutter Island in Boston Harbour to try and find patient Rachel Solando, who previously drowned her three children.
However, they end up contending with more than initially expected as the staff, led by Dr John Cawley (Sir Ben) seem uncooperative, while Teddy – who is being plagued by flashbacks of his war experience – reveals an ulterior motive for being at the hospital and is warned by a patient that he shouldn’t trust anyone.
Scorsese, who has garnered multiple Oscar nominations and a win for best director for The Departed over his career, did not receive any major awards acknowledgement for Shutter Island – and neither did DiCaprio.
In 2014 it was reported that Paramount and HBO were working together on a prequel TV series called Ashecliffe, which would serve as a prequel to the movie and delve into the founders of the institution, but nothing has come of it yet.