Eagle-eyed Shutter Island viewers have spotted one specific detail about Leonardo DiCaprio’s performance in the film, and it completely spoils the film’s iconic plot twist if you recognise it.
Leonardo DiCaprio has begun his press run for his new film directed by Paul Thomas Anderson, One Battle After Another.
As that happens many will be looking towards his iconic list of films, including a hidden gem that is coming off Netflix soon.
DiCaprio has been in a number of films with iconic plot twists such as Inception, The Departed, and The Beach, however the best for many is the Martin Scorsese classic Shutter Island.
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Starring alongside a star-studded cast including Mark Ruffalo, Ben Kinglsey, and Michelle Williams, DiCaprio stars as a US Marshal Teddy Daniels.
Alongside Ruffalo’s fellow Marshal, Chuck Adule, the pair investigate the disappearance of a patient from a mental institution on a private island.
With an 8.2 on IMDb and 4.2/5 average score on Letterboxd, the film is widely loved by fans, however, is best known for its plot twist.
DiCaprio’s Teddy is revealed later in the film to not actually be a Marshal of any kind, but instead to be a patient of the institution.
With his actual named revealed to be Andrew Laeddis, the film reveals that Laeddis went mad after murdering his wife following her drowning their three children.
The ‘investigation’ is actually an elaborate plot set up by the institution to try and make him confront his wife’s murder, ending with him ultimately being led away to receive a lobotomy.
The absolutely wild plot twist is widely considered to be one of the best around, however there is one major hint in DiCaprio’s character that points to the fact that he is actually an inmate from the very beginning.
Throughout the film, DiCaprio and Ruffalo’s characters smoke on multiple occasions and, even in the very last scene in which we already know the twist, he is never allowed to light his own cigarette.
In a viral Reddit post one fan pointed it out, saying: “In Shutter Island (2010), every time Leonardo DiCaprio smokes he gets his cigarettes lit by someone else.
“This foreshadows that he is actually a patient as mental patients are not allowed to have matches.”
One fan commented, saying: “Fantastic movie with a lot of cool foreshadowing.
“The band aid on his head, his ‘partner’ struggling to hand over his gun, and the guards acting extra nervous around him.”
Another said: “Yeah the film really deserves a second watch. When you focus on side characters instead of DiCaprio, you can see clues everywhere. One of the finest Scorsese films imo.”
As with any Scorsese or Christopher Nolan film, if you think there’s a mistake in the film, it’s probably actually some sort of hint or plot twist.
Shutter Island is available to stream on Prime Video now.
Topics: Film, Leonardo DiCaprio, Reddit, TV and Film
Michael Slavin