'Shutter Island"

'Shutter Island" is a beautiful, haunting, densely layered thriller by an American master. It is a gorgeous, grotesque, mad symphony of a film. It is a spell-binding journey down an exceptionally twisty rabbit hole.

I spent much of the film patting myself on the back because I thought I had deciphered a major plot point due to a couple of telling shots. I would soon discover that although I was correct, it was but a tiny piece of an intricate puzzle. Soon I would pay for my premature self-congratulation, the end of the film contains a key subtlety that I sadly admit I missed. This final revelation which passes in the blink of an eye, and requires a finely-tuned ear elevates the film from a excellent genre piece to a film so nuanced it demands repeat viewings to fully explore its depth.