MovieChat Forums > Shutter Island (2010) Discussion > Should have had one final twist. SPOILER...

Should have had one final twist. SPOILER ALERT

posted 6 months ago by whynotwriteme (7127)
29 replies | jump to latest

It would have been much better if just before Teddy/Andrew went off to be lobotomized, we found out that all his insane conspiracy theories were true and the doctors were indeed running some sort of MKUltra/Operation Paperclip operation and gaslighting him to keep it under wraps.

Maybe even have Teddy/Andrew himself finally convinced they were on the level, but provide some obvious cue in the final seconds for the audience to realize that the doctors were truly evil.

The film felt incomplete without this final twist. I just sat there and thought "So what?"

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[–] DeadMac1 (159) 4 months ago

When Teddy started walking towards the orderlies with ready intent to get lobotomized without any retaliation & with no sign of his delusions and behavior of an investigating cop; And while seeing this Dr. Cawley didn't get surprised at all - itself proves that the doctors were evil.

If the doctors were not evil, Cawley could have figured that Teddy is faking his insanity and would have stopped the lobotomy.

But he let Teddy go for the lobotomy.

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[–] Melton (2189) 4 months ago

Cawley and Dr Ruffalo were good doctors, but when it appeared that they failed in their treatment they were overruled by the authorities and Andrew heads off to get lobotomised. Some of the doctors were ‘evil’, others weren’t.

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[–] Melton (2189) 4 months ago

That would miss the entire point of the film, which is Andrew’s return to sanity and conscious decision to be lobotomised rather than ‘live as a monster’.

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[–] whynotwriteme (7127) 4 months ago

If that's the point, I think it was stupid. Andrew killed his wife in a moment of despair and anger after she murdered their children. Who would call that "monstrous"?

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[–] Melton (2189) 4 months ago

He also blames himself for the death of his kids because his booze-fuelled neglect meant that he ignored his wife’s mental illness, even after she burned down their apartment. He says ‘I killed them’.

He sees himself as a monster, that’s the point. The film is not about ‘evil doctors’ or some conspiracy - that’s part of his denial fantasy. Fire is associated with his delusions, water with the truth, the woman in the cave is framed with flames to show she’s a bullshit hallucination telling him what he wants to hear about ‘evil doctors’.

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[–] whynotwriteme (7127) 4 months ago

I think the movie would have been much better if it had been about evil doctors.

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[–] Melton (2189) 4 months ago

I know, but it’s for a different class of viewer.

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[–] whynotwriteme (7127) 4 months ago

Well, I guess next time I'll know better and just watch some lowbrow action movie or pornography instead.

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[–] Melton (2189) 4 months ago

Good idea.

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[–] whynotwriteme (7127) 4 months ago

Thanks for all your help in finding my proper level of entertainment.

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[–] RoboReCop (2706) 4 months ago

Don't let Melton lobotomize you, like those evil doctors did to Teddy/Andrew!

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[–] whynotwriteme (7127) 4 months ago

Too late! I can no longer watch films above my station. He showed me I was a monster!

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[–] Melton (2189) 4 months ago

You can watch them, just don’t demand they be dumbed down to your level.

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[–] whynotwriteme (7127) 4 months ago

If you really think Shutter Island is an intellectual film, perhaps the levels you ascribe to us are reversed.

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[–] Melton (2189) 4 months ago

It’s not particularly ‘intellectual’, it’s just not the dumb film about ‘evil doctors’ that you wanted it to be (thank god).

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[–] whynotwriteme (7127) 4 months ago

I love how you make it sound so simplistic.

A film that dared to explore the secrets behind illicit programs such as MKUltra's abuses of psychiatric patients would have been far more interesting and thought-provoking than the story of one guy's mental breakdown.

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[–] Melton (2189) 4 months ago

No it wouldn’t. You’re just disappointed that this film about a mental patient wasn't the MKUltra exposé you wanted it to be.

Take heart in the fact that the old-school doctors who believe in lobotomy via a spike to the brain win out in the film’s tragic ending.

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[–] whynotwriteme (7127) 4 months ago

I see now that this is not a productive conversation, it never was, and likely very few conversations involving you are.

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[–] Melton (2189) 4 months ago

If you allow yourself to learn that trying to dumb down a great film is foolish and that you should instead revisit the film and seek to understand it… then this will have been a very productive conversation.

Will you remain dumb or try to grow?

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[–] whynotwriteme (7127) 4 months ago

Sorry, but a story about MKUltra would have been no dumber than a story about a mental patient on a guilt trip.

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[–] Melton (2189) 4 months ago

That is a dumb point to make.

Maybe a good film about MKUltra exists or could exist, but that is irrelevant.

Shutter Island is not about MKUltra and it would not be improved by making Andrew’s conspiracy delusions turn out to be true, it would derail what the film is about, its core thematic question.

You’re just disappointed that this film about a mental patient wasn't the MKUltra exposé you wanted it to be

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[–] whynotwriteme (7127) 4 months ago

Scorcese does a ham-handed Shyamalan impersonation and you call it genius. "OMG! There was no conspiracy and he really was insane after all!"

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[–] Melton (2189) 4 months ago

Scorsese is not doing ‘a ham-handed Shyamalan impersonation’, you pulled that out of your ass.

I didn’t call anything ‘genius’, you pulled that out of your ass too.

Stop lying and make your points honestly.

You’re just disappointed that this film about a mental patient wasn't the MKUltra exposé you wanted it to be.

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[–] Lord Rake (3799) 4 months ago

I agree, the twist sucked and everyone would have expected it from a student film but not from Scorsese. The elaborateness of the whole thing was ridiculous unless it was not in his head. It was a waste of a good thriller and atmosphere.

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[–] Melton (2189) 4 months ago

What was ‘the twist’?

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[–] Lord Rake (3799) 4 months ago

The twist was it was all in his head and he was a patient there.

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[–] Melton (2189) 4 months ago

It’s fairly obvious that he’s a patient from roughly half way into the film, it’s not really a ‘twist’.

The real revelation is finding out how he ended up there, and the core of the film is how he reacts to discovering the truth.

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[–] Lord Rake (3799) 4 months ago

I didn't find that reveal very shocking or interesting.

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[–] Melton (2189) 4 months ago

It doesn’t need to be, it acts as a pressure-release for all of the abstractions and bizarre stylistic flourishes we’ve been absorbing for nearly 2 hours.

The final reveal in the lighthouse and everything that follows is absolutely electric. I’m not a DiCaprio fan but his acting in those scenes is incredible. Kingsley and Ruffalo nail it too. Just brilliant filmmaking.

With an 8.2 rating the film gets the acclaim it deserves, that’s the important thing.

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