Shutter Island (2010)

Confession: I clocked the twist in the first act, and Shutter Island still got under my skin, because Scorsese makes you dread being right. Leonardo DiCaprio plays Teddy Daniels sweaty, seasick and haunted, and he never once winks at the audience. Mark Ruffalo is the easygoing partner, Ben Kingsley turns politeness into a threat, and the whole island looks like a postcard from a bad dream. The problem is the last stretch. It spends a long time explaining itself, room by room, like the movie is worried you missed it. Some of the dream scenes pile on too. The music is loud, old-fashioned and great, all blaring brass announcing doom. It made $295 million worldwide, CinemaScore crowds gave it a C+, and 1.69 million IMDb ratings average an 8.2, which is the perfect split for a movie that messes with your head. A 7.5 because it’s a gorgeous puzzle box that hands you the answer key. $144 says you watch it a second time just to see what everyone else in it already knew.

What works: DiCaprio’s anxious, all-in performance, the stormy island atmosphere, and a soundtrack that sounds like an alarm going off in a cathedral.

What doesn’t: The final act over-explains the twist at great length, and several of the dream sequences repeat the same point again and again.

Who it’s for: People who like a puzzle movie and want to argue about the final line all the way home.