The Shutter Island ending reveals that Teddy Daniels is actually a patient at the psychiatric facility, not a real lawman investigating the disappearance of an inmate. The doctors at the facility create an intricate role-playing game to guide Teddy back to reality and confront the trauma of his past.

What is the true ending of Shutter Island?

It turns out that Andrew is actually an inmate at Ashecliffe, and that the film's events up until this point — Cawley's allowing Andrew to play the role of Teddy — were designed to cure his insanity that stemmed from murdering his depressed wife after she drowned their children at their lake house.

Was Andrew faking it at the end of Shutter Island?

In the end of "Shutter Island," it's revealed that the main character, Teddy Daniels, is actually Andrew Laeddis, a patient at the mental institution. He has been experiencing delusions and hallucinations, which were orchestrated by the staff to help him come to terms with the truth of his past.

Was Teddy sane at the end of Shutter Island?

Only Teddy is not a real person but a delusion created by inmate Andrew Laeddis. The ending of “Shutter Island” reveals that DiCaprio's character is a patient himself, committed to the Shutter Island facility after murdering his wife (Michelle Williams) because she went insane and killed their children.

What was the plot of Shutter Island?

In 1954, U.S. Marshal Edward "Teddy" Daniels and his new partner Chuck Aule travel to Ashecliffe Hospital for the criminally insane on Shutter Island, Boston Harbor, to investigate the disappearance of Rachel Solando, a patient of the hospital who had previously drowned her three children.

SHUTTER ISLAND Breakdown | Ending Explained, Easter Eggs, Hidden Details & Things You Missed

What is the main message of Shutter Island?

Shutter Island is essentially about Andrew falling into a delusion that he is a better man who didn't kill his wife and that his time on the earth has meaning because he's looking for a way to avenge her rather than live with the guilt of having killed her. Andrew asking Sheehan that question reframes his actions.

What does the climax of Shutter Island mean?

Climax: Teddy/Andrew finally remembers that his wife burned their apartment and drowned their three children—and that he shot her. Climactic Moment: Teddy/Andrew speaks to “Chuck” in ambiguous terms that seem to indicate he has relapsed into his delusions—which leaves no other option for him than a lobotomy.

Who was the woman in the cave in Shutter Island?

Some believe that the Rachel Solando in the cave was real; others believe that she was a figment of Teddy's imagination. It is possible that he fabricated the Rachel Solando in the cave, because what she says was everything he wanted to hear, which gives him a reason to find everyone suspicious on Shutter Island.

Was Shutter Island based on a true story?

Inspired by the history of the Boston Harbor Islands, Bostonian Dennis Lehane published his book Shutter Island in 2003. In this thriller, Lehane created a fictitious hospital island with nefarious happenings.

Why does Leonardo DiCaprio have a bandaid in Shutter Island?

It is unclear why he wears the band-aid, but it stays with him until nearly the end of the film. He only gets rid of it while taking a shower after John Cawley informs him that he actually showed up on the island alone.

Was the guy actually crazy in Shutter Island?

However, in a radical twist, we find that Teddy is himself a patient at the asylum. He suffers from Delusional Disorder, creating a false world to escape the dark reality of his past. Shutter Island is one of the many films that present the ethical considerations of psychological treatment to a mainstream audience.

Why does Teddy get lobotomized?

However, his guilt and pain are still so heavy that he knows he cannot live with them; rather than live with the knowledge of his pain, he chooses to pretend that he is still Teddy Daniels and let them lobotomize him, so that he can finally be free of his burden.

What were Andrew Laeddis last words?

His final words to Sheehan, though, cast doubt over whether Andrew has reverted back to his Teddy persona or not. “Which would be worse: to live as a monster, or to die as a good man?” he says to Sheehan, and when Sheehan calls him 'Teddy' for a final time, Andrew does not respond.

What is the truth in Shutter Island?

Cawley explains that Teddy is actually Andrew Laeddis, their "most dangerous patient." He was sent to the island after murdering his manic-depressive wife, Dolores. It turns out that Dolores drowned their three children.

Was Andrew lying at the end of Shutter Island?

Despite showing himself lucid towards the end, Andrew appears to go back to his Teddy persona, until he asks Dr. Sheehan whether it's better “to live as a monster or to die as a good man? Although Shutter Island explicitly tells the audience that Teddy/Andrew was detached from reality, that last line, as well as Dr.

Is there a mistake in Shutter Island?

Revealing mistakes

Obvious green screen images when Teddy and Warden are in a jeep coming back from the hidden cave. Obvious green screen images when on the ferry boat and when entering the island on a jeep passing in front of several buildings.

Who is the real killer in Shutter Island?

Teddy (Edward) Daniels is killer Andrew Laeddis (the former name an anagram to disguise the latter), while the woman whose disappearance from the asylum he has been investigating, Rachel Solando (another anagram), is really his wife Dolores Chanal, whom he made disappear.

What is the law of 4 in Shutter Island?

He explains that Andrew Laeddis is an anagram of Edward Daniels and that he murdered his wife, Dolores Chanal (an anagram of Rachel Solando), two years before after she drowned their three children during a manic episode. This is the answer of the code "the law of 4" and Laeddis is the 67th patient at Ashecliffe.

Why was the wife in Shutter Island crazy?

Dolores was bipolar, and she killed her children during a moment of mental crisis. Dolores had been living with bipolar for quite a while in Shutter Island, and it turns out that Andrew refused to seek help for his wife, instead deciding to ignore her struggles even when she burned down their apartment.

Who is the psycho in Shutter Island?

In the story told that Andrew is a veteran U.S marshal in World War II who became getting a mental disorder because he has some traumatic events after the war in Dachau. There were some main events those to be traumatic and brought him to indicated his schizophrenia symptoms and became delusional acute.

Why does the woman write run on Teddy's notepad?

Finally, the old woman writes 'run' on Teddy's notebook, not because Ashecliffe is running experiments on its patients, but because she knows that this is Teddy's last opportunity to escape the mental hospital.

Did Teddy want to be lobotomized?

Andrew's last line of dialogue, and his failure to respond to being called Teddy, has led many fans to speculate that Andrew had not actually regressed, and was voluntarily submitting himself to a lobotomy so he did not have to live with his sins and the monster he had become.

What is the lesson from Shutter Island?

Shutter Island illustrates the significance guilt and grief can have on someone's mental health. The cause of Teddy's mental health decline is his family's death. His wife struggled with mental health issues, which caused her to murder their three children, which then led to Teddy murdering her.

Why does the woman shush in Shutter Island?

To keep quiet for the sake of all those he could still save if the results of the roleplay are a success. "Shhh. Keep quiet. You can't run from what you've done, but that's okay."