It doesn’t happen very often that a teenage son asks to hunker down with his mom to watch a movie so when the ask is made I can guarantee mom will be willing to watch almost anything. And that’s the story of how this skittish mom got roped into watching the psychological thriller, Shutter Island.

I’m a fan of Leonardo DiCaprio, whish is probably why I agreed to watch a film I avoided when it first came out because I found the trailer to be quite disconcerting. Nevertheless, the other night I hit play on this film thinking how scary could mark Ruffalo be, really? The answer is not so much creepy but plenty creepy, enough to have me ducking behind my blanket.

The story follows two U.S. Marshals (DiCaprio and Ruffalo) investigating a prisoner escape from a well-known mental hospital for the criminally insane. The duo arrives and begins to question staff but everyone seems to have the same, well-rehearsed version of events. As DiCaprio’s Ted Daniels, scours the institute from the inside out he begins to grow deeply suspicious of the facilities lead psychiatrist, Dr. John Cawley (Ben Kingsley).

Ted struggles to make sense of the details of the case as he battles his own inner demons. The closer he gets to solving the case the further his grasp on reality slips. His partner, Chuck (Ruffalo) is aware of Ted’s struggles but the longer the stay on the island the more it seems that Chuck is playing both sides against each other.

Ted’s investigation into the disappearance of the inmate is also hampered by his personal obsession with finding the man he holds responsible for the death of his wife. That man is rumored to be held in the very same mental facility. As the two investigations merge no one, not Ted nor the audience, can decipher what is real and what is imagined.

Martin Scorsese directed this period thriller/drama, which was released at the Berlin Film Festival to critical acclaim. The film went on to be Scorsese’s biggest box office hit ever, debuting at number one. Critics and fans alike praised the film’s smart plot and expert timing that built in tension and drama without crossing over to being campy.

Shutter Island remains one of the top flicks of it’s genre and was plenty tense enough for this mama and her boy. Check out this gem on Netflix now.