The Big Clue Everyone Missed Early In Shutter Island 

Do you think "Shutter Island" is an underrated movie?

My favorite scene is when he finds out the truth. It feels like youre going insane with him because at the start you're like "no way, they're just trying to make him feel crazy" and by the end of that scene it's like you come to terms with the facts that he's the patient and he's crazy

The moment of realisation hits both Teddy and the viewer. For a brief moment I thought I was going crazy.

(Spoilers) The most devastating scene is towards the end where the main character is finally lucid (the experiment worked) but he fakes he's still insane bc he cant live with himself and opts for a lobotomy rather than face reality.

Every scene consisting of water resembled the reality. While on the other hand, the scenes which had fire in them were a part of Teddy's hallucinations. Part reason why Teddy was sick of water was because he was unwilling to accept the reality.

Yeah even the scene where the weird creepy old lady does the shush thing. At first, you think its just a creepy scene to set the tone of the movie, but on 2nd viewing, you realize she was just told by the doctors to shut up and not talk to Teddy so she is just doing the same thing

Such a great movie. I wish I could wipe my memory and re-watch it without knowing how it ends!

I started waffling on "Is he crazy or not?" when he thought he saw the other marshal's body at the bottom of the cliff and how strange it was that a patient would make it to a cave on a cliff and what was she eating? But I still thought they were just screwing with him by putting drugs in his system. Adding the apparently sinister character of the German doctor was genius, because you immediately suspect him as an escaped Nazi doctor.

The big twist would've been if the psychiatrist turned into the hulk at the end #BOOM

I also love the interrogation scene where Teddy snaps at the pasient after torturing him with the pencil scratching. Chuck/Lester then calms Teddy down and actually signals all the surrounding guards/nurses that he has his patient under control.

Just watched the movie today for the first time. Now I feel everyone is trying to mess with me... and youtube is in on it. Edward Daniels is not crazy.

Am I the only one still rooting for Teddy 😂 Yes blow the lid clean off 😂😂😂

This movie is a masterpiece, you notice new things in random scenes each time you watch it.. that’s honestly what makes a movie replayable to me

Wish they would make more good movies like this. Lately Hollywood has just been pumping out crap and recycled crap.

The author of the book it was based on, Dennis Lehane, is an amazing writer. Check out his other work if you liked this movie!

One other early clue is when they first look into Rachel's room and Chuck/Lester brings up the fact that all patients have 2 pairs of shoes but it's obvious they are Mens shoes he holds up (Andrew's and not 'Rachel's).

One more hint Teddy said that those are electrified perimeter and when Chuck asked how did you know he replied "I have seen something like that before"

Go to the part where he questions the old woman (Mrs kearnes) he asked her about Doctor sheehan and she makes direct eye contact with chuck ( doctor sheehan)

Did no one notice of explain the glass of water that wasn't in her hand, it was bizarre

Just finished it yesterday the ending is mind-blowing incredible movie that deserves an awesome oscar

The scene where he is told the truth is awesome!

Man this movie still leaves me with a lot of questions

I honestly wasnt even sure what his true identity was. A patient or detective being manipulated.

I didn't want to believe he was a patient. Happened with beautiful mind. I was like 'they are all wrong and be is right!'

My take on this, Teddy actually exists. * from the first scene Teddy felt sick & lost his cigarettes that he sworn was on his pocket. Chuck joked about officers stealing cigarettes so he offered him his. Manipulation begins. * Shutter Island, from the name itself, I believe is a big take away. "Shutter" they did everything to keep their wicked Institution from being exposed * Rachel Solando actually exists, the character's deep knowledge about the field of psychology was too detailed to be just a fantasy * When Teddy reached the office of Dr. Cawley, after they had the confrontation he already prepared the paperworks and his board about anagrams to feed him all their lies and made up stories * Teddy knowlingly went with the orderlies so he can finally go to the Lighthouse and see for himself what is going on there even if there's a chance of being Lobotomized thus he said his last lines about dying as a good man or living as a monster * Dr. Sheehan called him Teddy on the last scene that son of a bitch I believe Shutter Island really does experiments on people who have been traumatized on their past and seeing that Teddy is on the very edge of exposing their anomalies, they did an experiment on him by role-playing and manipulation, triggering he's past trauma and feeding him with lies and false situations for him to self-destruct and imprison him so he never exposes the Shutter Island's dark truth.

If you look at the credits it says that Leonardo Dicaprio played a character called Teddy Daniels, not Andrew Laeddis! 😉

Looks like “they” not only convinced Teddy, but also the comment section, that he was crazy. They programmed these memories into him.

What about his conversation with George ? I thought that was the biggest evidence he was really a detective.

It is underrated and slighty misunderstood. At the end setting on the steps, Andrew realizes hes to far gone. He accepts he cant beat his nightmares and he kills himself. I argued with my whole family who thought he went back.into the loop. Hahaha. Masterpiece...

Watching it back is really a whole new experience. Not just seeing all the clues that he’s not an officer, but seeing how he treats the other patients when he believes he’s a cop. He’s acting exactly how they do in movies. He’s overly aggressive, rude, sarcastic, and thinks he’s the smartest guy in the room. But on the second viewing you can see just how much he’s pretending, and doing a genuinely bad job of it.

You could also view it as them trying to gaslight him into believing he was someone he wasn't. The point of this movie was more about the death of the ego, or who you actually believe you really are. In the end he came to understand that he had to pick one or the other and instead chose to pick the one in which he was a hero. I still think he was actually Teddy because at the end when he gets up to essentially accept his death, Dr.Sheehan called him Teddy in an attempt to make him stop, while it was clear that he(Teddy) was aware of both personalities then. That never made sense. If he was aware that he was both Andrew and Teddy why call him out to him with his supposedly "fake" name?

I just watched this for the first time, I still can’t comprehend what just happenedd

As Teddy walks from the bathroom on the boat to meet Chuck, you see a handcuff hanging open that was secured to the ceiling. That was definitely how they secured him while the meds wore off.

They said in the movie the ferry is the only way to and from the island, and given that it's for mental patients ofc they will have handcuffs and rooms for the mental, if it was an elaborate role play to help Teddy realize that he was andrew, why would they send him on a wild goose chase to find Rachel when they were just going to say they mysteriously get a nurse to play the role, what was the point of that, so he can interrogate people needlessly? What did rachel say that was unusual, complained about the food. Ok say he was crazy and imagained all that, he is on the cliff desperate to get to the lighthouse and the Dr leaves him? and then Crowley said he came by himself, how would that help the patient at all. George Noyce conversation he got out once where he supposedly met of Teddy and found out about shutter island, let's say it was all a lie, what does it mean that I'm back here because of you, how did Teddy get him back to shutter island if he was always there? Why is George so scared of the lighthouse? Real Rachel, if she was imaginary or not, they say you are crazy, there is no defense, and everyone thinks Teddy is crazy by the end.

Him fumbling with his gun in the beginning didn't give up the whole twist. what they gave up was that something is wrong ( just like when the movie started and he was just meeting his partner for the first time) and us as the audience needs to watch to find out. what it is that makes this movie so great is you will not find out until the end no matter how good you are at picking apart movies. not on the first try at least. 🤔

I don’t understand why they act like he did something so terrible. The wife kills his children. He snaps and kills his wife. Why is he being treated like the villain?

Those bastards tricked him into believing he had a family and killed his wife.

Don’t forget in the opening scene that there were shackles dangling in the room just outside of the bathroom

anyone else been waiting for a proper explanation for this movie...and still waiting ?

This really was an outstanding film.

i had to read the book twice to understand the story and i remember telling a friend that Shutter Island could never be made into a movie. i saw the brilliant movie twice also.

Even before this scene, there is a scene right at the beginning when leonardo is in the ship, if you focus in the background there are handcuffs hanging from the top. Its a ship used to transport prisoners/patients.

Plot twist: The ruse was done the other way around! Teddy Daniels is Teddy Daniels! They brainwashed him into believing he his Andrew Laeddis, and are performing lobotomies at the lighthouse in that last scene.

I'm a fan of the alternate theory that he dug to deep and this place set up a scenario where he'd be brought out since he was already looking into the place to begin with and then they proceed with the elaborate plan to make him go crazy and doubt his reality so they can call him crazy and keep him from finding out the truth. There's tons of reasons behind that theory and there's a video that PolterGibbst did and it makes way too much sense. They used his past to make him look and go crazy just like the real Rachel (The Doctor in the cave) said. They're doing Nazi experiments in secret and Teddy got to close so they had to silence him without outright making him disappear so that if anyone looked into it, they'd just think he was nuts from his service in WW2 and the atrocities he saw the Nazis commit.

I think one can still argue that they were the ones who made him crazy. Dr. Rachel describes how they create perfect spies and soldiers through medications and lobotomies and how they erase your memories. Towards the beginning/middle of the movie, some of the patients allude to elements of Laeddis’ story, such as the patient Rachel when she meets Teddy. They could have orchestrated everything to implant false memories in Teddy and push him to take on the identity of an insane man. I mean- he’s the perfect canvas for them, being a war vet. He becomes more violent and unhinged towards the end of the movie, which could make him an effective and dangerous tool should they choose to deploy him against government enemies.

No. They lied to Teddy. He was a real US marshal, they started to medicate his tea and cigarette and then gradually manipulated his own memories. The clue is when he meets the escaped psychologist up in the cave. Teddy is unable to hallucinate about her in his "memories" because he has never seen her before, as he has never been on the island before. Notice that all his hallucinations involve his own family, whose memory he already had, and thus could be manipulated. But he has never seen the psychologist before, he has no memory of her, and therefore the drug is unable to induce hallucinations involving her. Remember, the German doctor is a war criminal who lied to immigration, the director (Ben Kingsley) is enjoying a lifestyle far above his means, they had a vested interest that Teddy never leaves the island.

Everyone commenting is a moron. He wasn't crazy, he was framed to be crazy. The Dr in the cliffs told him the truth and so did his "partner" during the night scene when they were sheltering from the storm. He got too close to exposing them so they lured him in and setup the perfect scenario with his past to make sure he could never leave.

I have the pleasure of having both seen the movie and read the book. Both versions are awesome.

what if the experiment worked and now Teddy believes what the Island wants him to believe.

My favorite movie 😍 the cast and story are just brilliant 🤩👍🏼

Maybe he wasn't crazy...

Anyone thought Shutter Island was similar to Inception? EDITED: 1. Both Leo are inside their "twisted" mind, dealing with alternate realities. 2. Both Leo led their wives to become lost in their mind, and dying. 3. Both Leo couldn't escape their guilt for the death of their wives. 4. Both Leo had kids that they couldn't be with. 5. Both Leo were able to find their way back from their "twisted" mind. 6. Leo usually dies in his movies, but they both survived (a bit of joke, but true).

He could have just as logically been Teddy. The movie never proves one side or the other. The only solid clue I saw, is when his cigarettes are missing and the ice pic, meaning he is Teddy

I strongly disagree. I've watched this movie heaps. I watched it as a kid in the cinema when it came out. I think it is a masterpiece, however I also am strongly convinced Teddy isn't "Andrew". There is actually more hard evidence to suggest Teddy is being experimented on as a test subject, and as a means to get rid of him as a nosy investigator than there is to say he is Andrew Dr Naehring. Clearly ex nazi. Given his speciality he likely worked at Dachau too. Operation paperclip wouldn't pick up such a smart ex nazi just to make them a therapist on some island. The warden is clearly military iltelligence. Probably colonel level. The deputy warden knows federal codes way too well, to the point he can number list the rule that gives prison staff authority over visiting federal staff. The priming and programming of Teddy. They put him in a bed under a leaky pipe so he wakes up covered in water. He has to swim to the lighthouse so he arrives wet. They put him in a room with the fake Rachel (she's a nurse) and she hugs him and does this whole charade to traumatise and bond with teddy. This rachel supposedly killed her kids by drowning them. The Dr leaves Teddy alone to climb down the cliffs. The warden picks teddy up the next morning ( if andrew was their most dangerous patient, no way would he be allowed to go off by himself) The "real" rachel solando "hallucination" is very different to teddy's other hallucinations. She's not dressed weirdly, and she unlike the other awake hallucinations makes phischal contact with him when she wakes him up. Dr cawley says at the lighthouse (hilariously), "WHy you all wet, baby?" But In the "flashback" "Andrew" says, " baby, why are you all wet?" Firstly, the line is different. Secondly, Cawley claims that teddy violently refuses to acknowledge that he is Andrew, thereby if the "Baby, why are you all wet" was a true statement, how would Cawley know any of those words? Teddy wouldn't tell him and admit to them. Infers that it's more priming and implanting false memories. Frankly, the original novels ending is the boring "he was Andrew all along". But scorsese decided to make it much more ambiguous. I've seen this film many times. I think there is a stronger, but much more horrifying argument that Teddy is their experiment. They're running experiments in how to change how people's minds work. Perfect experiment to see if they can convince somebody that they are somebody else. ANd the ending, "better to lvie as a monster or die a good man", isn't "andrew" taking a psychological suicde via lobotomy. It's Teddy firstly invalidating Cawley's psychological research and experiment (Which cawley when you see his response is unhappy about), and it's teddy's last F you, I wont end up one of your monsters. If you watch it again, watch it with this in mind. Even look at how Shehan and cawley act in the lighthouse. They create a false urgency. Like "you need to be cured in the next 5 minutes".

I am still tryna find out why Mrs Kearnes told him to run Like whyyy?? and that’s The only reason i believe he is teddy

I feel like they lead off the movie with signs. Like how big and ridiculous his tie was in the opening scene. No way a fed wears a tie like that.

I love this movie and yeah it's so much better every time you see it

Then why did George noyce said it's mind games and they were doing experiments . The doctors, nurses and warden could act , why did George noyce want to act ? What was the need ?

I wish the movie had a few more upbeat scenes between Chuck and Teddy earlier on it would have made me care more about the characters and want Teddy to be right

First time I watched this film, I immediately said, "surely he met his partner before getting on the ferry!" It was too big of a clue imo.

I love this film. One of the very best I've ever watched.

The twist isn't that he's a patient the twist is that he knew who he really was the whole time.

I give this movie an award for brilliant script and performances one of my all time favorites on a list may videos of great ones continue for a long time .

Am I the only one who didn’t see twist before the revealing ? I see too many people saying it was obvious since the beginning

Everyone is saying all sorts of things about how "Water induces past memories" and how Teddy was really crazy. But if you delve deeper, you find out that the story, in which a Cop (teddy) tries to bust an illegally operating Mental facility, and the facility instead proves him to be crazy to get out of the way, makes a lot of sense. Just tell me, Why would a mental patient locked inside a facility for murders, have a deep knowledge of Hydrogen Bombs? Why does the migraines and the delusions only start after teddy starts taking the Pills, The cigarettes and the food? Why does the patient tell teddy to RUN, for no particular reason, other than saving him from him going insane? Also, why does George Noyce tell Teddy to not go after Laeddis, and instead escape the island? Also, The theory of Chuck/Lester and Teddy not meeting on deck can be explained by various reasons, like chuck/lester being picked up on another port, or lester being deliberately planted on the ship to make teddy feel he is actually crazy. I can see a connection here. Teddy can actually be a cop who is trying to bust Shutter Island. However, the government got a smell of his ideas, and instead did a "Gotcha" to get him out of their way. Historicaly putting, this actually makes a lot of sense too, taking into account Cold war tactics that USA adopted. What do you say?

Bro this movie is about crazy people and the movie itself, in how it's made, will fill your mind up with so much duality that it makes u crazy aswell. Like THIS IS THE FIRST TIME A MOVIE DID THIS FOR ME AND IM SO FUCKING THRILLED

I still say that he wasn't actually insane and that the doctors of shutter Island Drugged him and convinced him he was a patient when he really wasn't. He has been investigating that facility and its doctors before arriving so it makes sense that they'd want him "dealt with". Killing him would have just made them look more suspicious and drawn attention to them so they instead made it look like he had a mental breakdown and needed to be treated there.

Really, this is what you think is really the true story? This movie is great because 99% of people still don't know what the movie is about. He never killed anyone, he was drugged by his cigs, they knew on the Island he was coming to shut their Post-Nazi mind control system down, so they slowly convince him he's a nut job all the time feeding him small Doses of mind altering drugs. It's got a double twist that most people can't see because they think the twist is he's a patient of the Island, which he isn't.

I wish I had seen this movie without knowing anything. TikTok featured the sound of him asking where the kids were and my internet search took me to wiki /facepalm

This movie is so underrated

The experiment worked, sadly, Andrew didn't want to live with the reality and opted for the lobotomy instead to live out his life as a docile, kind person again.

This movie was a full-blown trip for me.

in the end i didn't know whether the doctor is brainwashing me too alongside teddy or he is telling the truth

One of the best movies of all time, kept you thinking

The biggest miss is the handcuff chains in his bunker after he washed his face before he leaves to find chuck

What I love is the Very End. When Chuck asks him what they’re gonna do? And he ACTS like he’s still in his delusion. If you’re good on picking up hidden messages you’ll understand that he wasn’t slipping back into is psychosis. For 1 he said “What would be worse chuck”? “To Live as a monster, or to die as a good Man”? And when the psychiatrist says the character name “Teddy” Andrew doesn’t answer! Because he WANTED them to Lobotomise him! He just Could NOT live with the fact his Wife killed his Children and that he also Murdered her!! Sad 😢

Just finish watching the movie for the first time and I felt like I was going insane

I have a doubt. if teddy was really andrew then why one of the nurse hud a knife under the white clothes ? And at last they shows the light house again. It ain't making any sense that he was really a patient bruh !

he is teddy and not insane. they set it all up to convince him he is

Picked up the DVD of this movie from a pawn shop for $1.

Personally, I prefer to interpret the film as Teddy not actually being insane and instead that the asylum actually is a human testing ground for Nazis; Poltergibbst has a great video going over this theory.

The cast and story are just brilliant🤩

So did Leo never really take boat to island...did they set him up or is he crazy??

one of my all time best movies

I dont know how but very early in movie i thought that leonardo's character is patient & climax will be like revealing all mysteries.

Just explain me one thing: what's the scene between Teddy & Rachel in the cave meant to be? Where she confessing all truth about the island... Is it hallucination completely ? Any views....?

Me: imagine if his partner is actually the doctor and he's actually the 67th patient 2 hours later: Me: DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAMN

Pure shock and disbelief

am i the only one who still thinks that he is actually teddy and they all tryna make him crazy??

He either went on with his demise or he was insane this movie is crazy

I watched this with my mom a few weeks after I saw it the first time. I'll never forget how irritated I was that she correctly guessed almost the entire plot within like 15 minutes.

One of my biggest issues is how did he not regonize his thearpy even to the very end of the movie he never treats chuck like he knows him for 2 years how can he be hella smart and not recognize somone he seen for 2 years

Favourite film of all-time

excellent commentary.

I missed all these but clicked that he was a patient when he’s given an aspirin in a little medication container shortly after arriving at shutter island and getting a headache

Great movie

We're giving loads of credit to Scorsese but more credit is due for Dennis Lahane, who wrote the book (which is also amazing and has more of these hints)

I read about the explained ending of the movie, its almost proved that he was infact Andrew and he was crazy. But the way, the movie sets up its tone from the starting, its hard to believe that he was crazy. I would still say that both could be possible, TEDDY or ANDREW

I mean, it was a great movie. But that part was definitely a great tell as to what really happened

They had me believe half the movie they where playing mind games in HIM. But no. I was kinda mad tbh I loved the teddy and chuck duo 😭 😂