Shutter Island

Based on Dennis Lehane's mind-bending novel, director Martin Scorsese's dark, intense psychological thriller--set in the anxious Cold War era, circa 1954—begins with a seasick, emotionally tormented federal marshal, Teddy Daniels (Leonardo DiCaprio), and his new partner, Chuck Aule (Mark Ruffalo), taking the ferry across foggy Boston Harbor to Shutter Island, where the forbidding Civil War-era Ashecliffe Hospital houses the criminally insane. A torrential storm is approaching, and their mission is to investigate the disappearance of an inmate who escaped from her windowless cell, leaving a cryptic note. Imperious Dr. Cawley (Ben Kingsley) is helpful but secretive, as is his colleague, Dr. Naehring (Max von Sydow), both zealously guarding what happens to patients in notorious Ward C. But chain-smoking, migraine-plagued Teddy is on a dogged cathartic mission, burdened with eerie nightmares about the death of his wife (Michelle Williams), as well as gruesome visions of World War II atrocities he witnessed as a soldier liberating Dachau. Scorsese creates a pervasively claustrophobic sense of menace, filled with lurid gothic imagery that keeps the adrenaline pumping (augmented by atonal, spooky music). Disturbing and deliberately deceptive, Shutter Island is a labyrinthine mystery touching on issues ranging from the medical to the political. Highly recommended. [Note: Blu-ray extras include an “Into the Lighthouse” making-of featurette (21 min.), and a “Behind-the-Shutters” production featurette (17 min.). Bottom line: a small but solid extras package for a fine thriller.] (S. Granger)