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movie review - Shutter Island

the journal of Michael Werneburg

twenty-seven years and one million words

This is a story about two detectives who arrive at a psychiatric hospital on an island. It's the 1950s and the detectives are of the no-nonsense, war veteran type you'd expect. They're investigating the disappearance of a female inmate but find the staff are reluctant to participate in the investigation. As the matter deepens, the policemen start experiencing things differently as they work on different parts of the investigation.

It is then revealed that this is on purpose. Without relaying the entire plot I'll say that I had no idea that this story was going to play out anything like it did, and I was as impressed as I was surprised. I particularly liked the final scene, in which there's a final revelation that questions everything that came before. If you'd like, I'm sure you could interpret this as undoing half the plot (I didn't).

The story is very good, the dialog and actions of the cast fit perfectly, and the whole thing hits just the right note. I really enjoyed this.

Strongly recommended.