Shutter Island (2010) – What the Hell Happened?

Shutter Island, directed by Martin Scorsese and starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Mark Ruffalo and Ben
Kingsley, was released in 2010. The Psychological Thriller set entirely on the fictional Island,
Shutter Island, tells the story of U.S. Marshall Teddy Daniels (DiCaprio) as he seeks to uncover the
truth about the vanishing of a child-murderering woman from a mental institution, the only
populated location on the titular Island. He is accompanied by fellow U.S. Marshall Chuck
(Ruffalo).

This Dissertation aims to pose a theory on what really happened in the film, who Andrew Laeddys
is, what happend to Teddy's wife, who the missing woman is, and if the experiment worked.

It goes without saying that by talking about my theories on the ending I will go into detail on what
happens. So from now on an OFFICIAL SPOILER WARNING is in place.

The first aspect I want to discuss is the last scene, the conversation between Teddy/Andrew and
Chuck/Dr. Sheehan. This small scene takes our theories about what happened in the movie up to
this point and flips them on it's head. After the big reveal that Teddy is in fact Andrew Laeddys and
that he has been the experiment all along, we see him accepting his character and fate. In a scene
just minutes earlier he finally speaks the truth: that his wife killed their kids and that he in turn shot
her. Seing that throughout the film he hadn't been lying on purpose it is evident that he has become
Teddy Daniels. And when he admits he is in fact Andrew Laeddys we cheer for him regaining his
clear mind. Then we get this scene where Andrew and Dr Sheehan have a conversation about his
mental state that will determine if Dr Cawley's experiment has succeeded. And it genuinely seems
like it has. But halfway through the conversation Andrew calls Dr Sheehan 'Chuck', the persona the
latter had taken on for the experiment. He also mentions that he has to get back to Boston because
he is clearly investigating something fishy. And it seems Andrew has fallen right back into the
Teddy persona. The pain in Dr Sheehan's eyes is undescribable. Andrew/Teddy also states that
"they're not gonna catch us". But as the conversation, nay, the film closes we get the last line said
in the entire film, of course by Andrew/Teddy: "You know, this place makes me wonder... [...] What
would be worse? To live as a monster or to die as a good man?" Thus he accepts his fate and walks
towards the Deputies to be put to sleep. Now this line of course poses many questions: Is Teddy a
part of Andrew, does he coexist with him, inhabiting the same body? Has Andrew accepted that
Teddy was or is a part of him? Can he live with the moral question he just posed? Or does he realize
what he did and want to end his life as a good man, as U.S. Marshall Teddy Daniels? There simply
is no definitive answer. As with all ambiguous films, or 'Mindfuck-Films', it is open to
interpretation. Everyone may have their own theory about what happened, and the beauty lying in
the fact that you can make a strong case for any side of the coin. That is exactly what makes a
master director, as Scorsese is without a doubt, like a Christopher Nolan, a David Fincher or a
Quentin Tarantino. My own personal theory is that Andrew has accepted the fact that he is mentally
unstable, creating the persona of U.S. Marshall Teddy Daniels, and can't live with himself that way.
Well knowing that he will walk into his demise he takes on his alternate persona one last time and
dies as a good man, thus posing the moral question: is it legitimate to execute him? After all, he dies
as a good man, as World War II Soldier-turned-U.S. Marshall Teddy Daniels. At that point in time
when he walks away to his death he is no more Andrew Laeddys. Had he not gone back to Teddy
Daniels he would have lived, maybe a long life at that, as Andrew Laeddys: the wife-murdering
mental patient who needs t be controlled every minute of his life. He, as Andrew, is caught. There is
no freedom on his road because he is such a dangerous person. As Teddy though, he dies, but in that
death lies his salvation, his freedom. He does in fact die as the noble Marshall. So, he poses another
moral question on the viewer: Is it ok and legitimate to kill him? Because, sure, his body is that of
Andrew Laeddys, but his mind, which controls his body, is that of Teddy Daniels, that of a man who
never did anything wrong. Once again, this is open to discussion. Personally I believe that it is
 Shutter Island (2010) – What the Hell Happened?
illegitimate because, at the moment, there is no criminal mental patient walking towards the guards,
it is a U.S. Marshall. It's the same way one talks about shooting an innocent man on the street. It's
simply not right. On the other side, of course, at the moment he is Teddy Daniels, but, as we have
seen him do several times throughout the movie, he might switch back to Andrew Laeddys, at best a
threat to normal people, in a matter of seconds. By killing him the guards under Dr Cawley relieve
the world of a criminal and a good man at the same time. Now, do we know he was in his full
mindset? No, we don't. After all he did just smoke a cigarette given to him by Dr Sheehan/Chuck.
And he knows that in the institution there is a long track record of the patients get drugged so they
don't think in their own mindset anymore. These are simply my theories about what happened, there
is no right or wrong on this.

Another fascinating aspect about the movie is the character of Chuck/Dr Sheehan. Throughout the
entire film there are very subtle hints towards Chuck not really being a U.S. Marshall. In one of the
early scenes in the movie both Marshalls need to hand over their firearms to the Deputy. Teddy does
it quickly and smoothly, because, of course, he was in fact a U.S. Marshall, a position that made
him only so much more dangerous. Chuck/Dr Sheehan is a psychiatrist. He has no long experience
with weapons or the profession of a U.S. Marshall. While Teddy removes his weapon quickly,
Chuck struggles with it quite a bit, already showing the viewer ever so subtly that he is not a
Marshall. Scenes later the supposed Marshalls interview the nurses of the facility. Dr Sheehan, the
missing woman's psychiatrist, has just gone on vacation and no one can reach him. While the
viewer already finds this fishy in it of itself, the camera moves toward Chuck in a slightly off
manner. Chuck also gives a look of guilt and paranoia in this exact shot. Throughout the film
several of these hints are placed and they only ever seem obvious once you reflect on the movie as a
whole.

Interesting to discuss is also the motif of Teddy being 'haunted' by Andrew's fears. Let me explain:
his wife drowned his children. She drowned them in a lake. From the first scene on we are shown
that Teddy can't handle water. The first scene is on the ferry and while he appears to be seasick he
also draws weaker every time he sees the open water. This is brought up in a more subtle way later
in the film: after Teddy discovers the cave he has to climb the rock. And what is right below that
rock? The sea. Just seing the water makes him almost faint. This fear of water isn't helped by the
vehement rain pouring down on him and Chuck. Another fear is fire. That fear was caused by his
wife burning down their apartment. He can be around fire, but he doesn't want anything directly to
do with it. Every time he smokes, he always lets his cigarette be lit by someone else. Another hint at
the twist: every single person knows to light his cigarette for him, even though, after our knowledge
at the time, they'd never met him before.

Honestly, this essay is merely scraching the surface of this highly comlex film. There are so many
questions still left unanswered, many even not mentioned at all (Why did the glass vanish? Who is
the missing woman? What's up with his dreams and his wife who seems to be haunting him?).

As a last step there is one obvious film comparison that can be made: Christopher Nolan's Inception
(2010). Now apart from the obvious comparison that Leonardo DiCaprio starrs in the lead and that
the two movies came out in the same year, there is the obvious comparison, and that is the fact, that
our main character in both films is haunted by his dead wife. In Inception, Val kills herself and
haunts Cobb in his dreams throughout. Our characters have no clear goal as far as their personal
journey but there is a clear obstacle: the wife that haunts our lead and leaves him no chance to grow
out of the misery he laid upon himself. Inception, as Shutter Island, also is a highly complex film
that requires multiple viewings to understand and to form an opinion about, because, once again,
 Shutter Island (2010) – What the Hell Happened?
also in Inception, there is on right or wrong answer in regards toward what exactly happened, just
opinions.

In the final sentences of this dissertation I want to give my personal take on the film. This movie is,
of course, masterfully directed by one of the all-time great directors: Martin Scorsese. It's all-star
cast including Leonardo DiCaprio, my personal favorite actor, Mark Ruffalo, whom I'm starting to
grow on more and more as a character actor as opposed to Bruce Banner/The Hulk, and Ben
Kingsley, an actor I've sadly seen far too little from, acts itself out. DiCaprio is actually Oscar-
worthy, and Ruffalo is worthy of a nomination at least. Both transform into their roles respectfully
with elegance and brilliance. The movie is of course a thriller, and the movie does keep you on the
edge of your seat even after multiple viewings, it's actually inhanced by multiple watches. Every
time there is something new to be uncovered about the film, a subtle moment that might have gone
over your head the first time around. This movie is a masterclass in filmmaking in general and I
expect nothing less from the genius that is Martin Scorsese,