Did you know the major plot twist in one of Leonardo DiCaprio’s most famous movies is hinted at through one tiny prop?
Starring DiCaprio, Mark Ruffalo, Ben Kingsley, and Michelle Williams, Shutter Island is one of Martin Scorsese’s highest-grossing films of all time.
The 2010 film follows the story of U.S. Marshal Edward ‘Teddy’ Daniels (DiCaprio) as he travels to a hospital which houses the criminally insane. After arriving on the island alongside his partner Chuck Aule (Ruffalo) the pair set about investigating the disappearance.
However, things soon take a pretty unexpected turn. Watch the trailer below if you’re unfamiliar with the film:
From the get-go it’s pretty obvious that all is not as it seems with Teddy, who is frequently plagued by flashbacks throughout the film before a mind-bending final twist is revealed.
In honour of DiCaprio’s 50th birthday today (11 November), we’re revisiting the clever way in which the actor was able to hint at Teddy’s fate throughout the film. Spoiler warnings ahead.
What happens at the end of Shutter Island?
Towards the end of the film we learn that ‘U.S. Marshal Edward Daniels’ doesn’t actually exist, with Teddy ultimately being revealed to be a patient named Andrew Laeddis.
Andrew has been incarcerated at the institution for killing his wife after she drowns their children. Meanwhile his work partner ‘Chuck Aule’ is actually revealed to be Andrew’s psychiatrist Dr Lester Sheehan.
The ‘missing patient’ narrative was also something Teddy came up with to help him deal with the trauma. The staff decide to go along with it to see if it will help him accept reality, but it doesn’t work and he’s given a lobotomy instead.
Pretty chilling, right?
Anything look suspicious here? (Paramount Pictures)
How did Leonardo DiCaprio hint at Teddy’s fate throughout the film?
A video uploaded by movie fan @imeugeneclark explains that a prop used in the film reveals that Teddy was a patient all along.
“Did you know that in Shutter Island a small detail reveals Teddy’s true identity early on?” they explain.
“Of course, a big plot twist of the movie is finding out that Teddy Daniels isn’t in fact a US Marshal but actually Andrew Laeddis, a patient at the mental sanatorium he is investigating.
“This twist is actually given away as every time that Teddy goes to smoke a cigarette, someone else lights it for him.
“This is because patients on Shutter Island are not permitted to carry lighters around with them.”
This wasn’t the only clue eagle-eyed viewers noticed either, with one person pointing out that Teddy’s formal clothes are too big for him, while a third added the reason Teddy’s ‘partner’ struggles to take off his holster before entering the facility is because he isn’t used to it.
Featured Image Credit: Emma McIntyre/WireImage/Paramount Pictures
Topics: Celebrity, Leonardo DiCaprio, TV and Film
While recognising Cristin Milioti’s brilliance in Matt Reeves’ The Penguin, it’s easy to forget her important role in The Wolf of Wall Street.
Milioti’s the talk of the town after featuring in the HBO series centred around the rise of Oz Cobb, aka The Penguin (Colin Farrell), the notorious crime lord in Gotham City.
Following on from the fall of Carmine Falcone in The Batman, Milioti plays his daughter Sofia Falcone.
Rightly so, the actor, 39, has been praised for her performance, as viewers have called The Penguin a masterpiece since it came out last month.
Whilst reflecting on her recent success, Milioti has opened up about her forgotten role in Martin Scorsese’s The Wolf of Wall Street, one of the most iconic films ever.
The 2013 flick follows the real life story of former stockbroker Jordan Belfort, played by Leonardo DiCaprio.
It was also Margot Robbie’s breakout role as she starred as Naomi Lapaglia, Belfort’s fictional second wife.
Meanwhile, fans have needed reminding of Milioti’s portrayal of Teresa Petrillo, who was the stockbroker’s first wife before she found out of Belfort’s affair with Robbie’s character in the film.
Cristin Milioti has been praised for her role in The Penguin (Charles Sykes/Variety via Getty Images)
“I spent so much of that experience being so terrified of messing it up,” the How I Met Your Mother actor told the Independent in 2022.
“I’d never been on a movie set that big. It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience. I wish I had taken it in more and let go more.
“But if I had fully taken it in, I would have blacked out. I don’t think my brain was even computing.”
Now, fans will remember the scene when Teresa figures out her husband is having an affair by catching him in action in a limousine outside Trump Tower.
On famously hitting DiCaprio repeatedly, she said: “That was a wild night. We shot from 8pm to 8am and we did that scene over and over and over.”
Milioti said her hand made contact with DiCaprio’s face ‘a bunch of times’, adding: “I just kind of slapped the hell out of him for 12 hours. I always had a real attachment to that scene, because you get to see this character, who has swallowed a lot of her feelings down, really get to let loose.”
Fans will remember this crazy scene (Bobby Bank/WireImage)
Commenting on her appearance on social media, one fan said: “Wait i didn’t realise that was her in The Wolf of Wall Street hold onnnnnnn.”
Another added: “Real ones know! And everyone forgets her greatness in The Wolf of Wall Street!”
Someone else said: “Just realised Cristin Milioti was Jordan’s 1st wife in The Wolf of Wall Street and Ginny and Johnny Sack’s daughter Catherine in The Sopranos.”
The Penguin is available to stream in the UK on Sky Atlantic now.
Featured Image Credit: Charles Sykes/Variety via Getty Images/Bobby Bank/WireImage
Topics: Leonardo DiCaprio, Celebrity
Shutter Island’s famous plot twist was given away by a prop Leonardo DiCaprio used in his scenes
Shutter Island has one of the most iconic plot twists in cinema, but you probably didn’t notice this
Shutter Island is one of the most mind-bending films ever made, having been released in 2010.
People (me included) are still getting over the film’s ending, with it ranking highly among the best movie twists ever.
But as we’ve had a good 14 years to analyse the Martin Scorsese masterpiece, it was discovered that there was a prop that Leonardo DiCaprio used in scenes that hinted at the film’s shocking finale the whole time.
I think it goes without saying here that there are spoilers ahead.
The psychological thriller was adapted from the bestselling book of the same name, written by author Dennis Lehane.
It follows Teddy Daniels (DiCaprio), a US Marshal who is sent to an institution for individuals deemed criminally insane to investigate a missing patient.
Viewers of the film will see flashbacks that reveal Teddy’s complex history, but it is not made clear what happened to him.
Then the big whopper: at the end of the film, it is then revealed the US Marshal is actually a patient at the institution himself, as he was sent there for killing his wife after she drowns their children.
The shocking ending to the film was right in front of us the whole time. (Paramount Pictures)
It turns out that the whole ‘missing patient’ narrative was something Teddy came up with to help him deal with the trauma.
The staff decide to go along with it to see if it will help him accept reality, but it doesn’t work and he’s given a lobotomy instead.
It’s a corker of an ending – which is actually very different in the book.
After finding out who Teddy really is, and re-watching the film, viewers have noticed one tiny clue which points to the truth all along.
A video uploaded by movie buff @imeugeneclark explains that a prop used in the film reveals that Teddy was a patient all along.
“Did you know that in Shutter Island a small detail reveals Teddy’s true identity early on?” they explain.
“Of course, a big plot twist of the movie is finding out that Teddy Daniels isn’t in fact a US Marshal but actually Andrew Laeddis, a patient at the mental sanatorium he is investigating.
Teddy is never allowed to light a cigarette by himself. (Paramount Pictures)
“This twist is actually given away as every time that Teddy goes to smoke a cigarette, someone else lights it for him.
“This is because patients on Shutter Island are not permitted to carry lighters around with them.”
Other fans pointed out more clues, including the fact that Teddy’s formal clothes are too big for him (because they aren’t his) and that his ‘partner’ Chuck struggles to take off his holster before entering the facility, because he isn’t used to it.
“It’s one of the earliest clues that his partner isn’t who he says he is, since someone with his supposed background shouldn’t be struggling with such a simple action,” they wrote on Reddit.
Others claimed the reason why Teddy doesn’t light cigarettes is because of his past.
“Its actually because he’s terrified of fire because of his past, same reason he’s scared of the water throughout the movie,” they wrote.
Meanwhile others are still convinced that Teddy was a US Marshal and he was simply tricked.
“To this day, I still believe that they tricked him and that he’s in fact a federal marshal,” they commented.
What do you think?
Featured Image Credit: Paramount Pictures
Topics: Leonardo DiCaprio, Film, TV and Film
Joshua Nair
Leonardo DiCaprio is one of the biggest stars in Hollywood, and has been ever since the mid 1990s.
We can easily forget that he has been in the mainstream for the best part of three decades, having turned 49 last November.
DiCaprio’s critically acclaimed roles in Romeo + Juliet, Titanic, Catch Me If You Can, The Departed and Inception among other massive movie titles weren’t enough to win him an Oscar though.
That came in 2016 for his role in The Revenant, beating out the likes of Bryan Cranston and Matt Damon for Best Actor.
His win came after years of online jokes and ridicule over the fact that he had never won the award, but when it finally happened, it was a moment for the ages.
In an interview with ABC News reporter Chris Connelly for his latest film Killers of the Flower Moon, DiCaprio reflected on his career, age and the film itself.
During the feature for Good Morning America, he reminisced over his first interview with Connelly 30 years prior.
ABC
Connelly often interviewed the actor during his 13 years at MTV News.
The reporter joked: “You’re 49 years old. How the hell did that happen?”
“I have no idea, we were talking about our first interview, that may have been 30 years ago,” DiCaprio replied.
“What do you wanna do before you turn 50?” asked Connelly.
“You know what? Just one more movie,” he concluded, hinting that he aims to get back on the big screen soon.
It’s not clear whether this is sure to happen, but his IMDb page does reveal some of his upcoming roles.
The famous Martin Scorsese – Leonardo DiCaprio partnership are set to be part of another movie, as the director is set to be in charge of Roosevelt.
DiCaprio will play President Theodore Roosevelt in the biographical drama, with the movie currently in pre-production.
Michael Ostuni/Patrick McMullan via Getty Images
Another two films that the 49-year-old is set to star in is The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny, and Murder and Jim Jones, with both, like Roosevelt, still in pre-production.
With regards to DiCaprio’s latest film Killers of the Flower Moon, critics and fans received it well as it currently boasts a score of 93% on Rotten Tomatoes and 7.7/10 on IMDb.
The synopsis for the crime-western reads: “Real love crosses paths with unspeakable betrayal as Mollie Burkhart, a member of the Osage Nation, tries to save her community from a spree of murders fueled by oil and greed.”
Featured Image Credit: ABC
Topics: Leonardo DiCaprio, Celebrity, TV and Film
Shutter Island was released in 2010 but viewers are still left in awe at the film’s memorable plot twist.
Starring Leonardo DiCaprio alongside Mark Ruffalo, the film follows U.S Marshal Teddy Daniels (DiCaprio) as he investigates a missing patient at a psychiatric hospital.
However, the story turns the viewer’s expectations on their head with one of the most mind-twisting endings in history – if you know, you know.
But apparently, there was a scene early on in the film that supposedly gives the ending away.
If you haven’t seen the film yet, a) you should go and watch it, and b) spoilers ahead!
The psychological neo-noir film, based on the novel of the same name, shows numerous flashbacks of Teddy’s history throughout the film but it is not made very clear.
We then find out at the end of the movie that Daniels is, in fact, a patient at the institution himself (I’m still not over it), who was sent there after killing his manically depressed wife who drowned their children.
Paramount Pictures
The ‘missing patient’ idea was something thought up by Daniels to deal with the death of his family.
Staff at the asylum go along with it to see if it will help him finally accept what has happened before deciding to lobotomise him.
Teddy’s true history wasn’t exactly hidden to the audience, however – with some pointing out a particular prop used by Daniels actually gives away the huge plot twist.
Now, there is a scene earlier on in the film that people think does the same thing.
In a scene where Daniels speaks to one of the patient’s from the victim’s group therapy session, the glass of water she asks for disappears when she takes a drink from it.
Paramount Pictures
And it is thought that the reason for this because we are looking at the scene through Daniel’s eyes, who has a deep-set trauma with water after the death of his children.
They do say hindsight is 20/20.
And viewers shared their thoughts on the scene on YouTube, with one saying: “I F**KING KNEW IT”
Another commented: “And I think she did that on purpose trying to get him to realize something was wrong”
A third put: “I thought that i had watched it wrong lol”
While a fourth said: “Damn.”
The movie really is a mind-boggler but that’s what good psychological films do, right?
Featured Image Credit: Paramount Pictures
