Oficer policji Teddy Daniels (Leonardo DiCaprio) przyjeżdża do znajdującego się na wyspie szpitala psychiatrycznego dla kryminalistów. To, co miało być rutynowym dochodzeniem, przeradza się w przerażającą serię niejasnych zdarzeń. W miarę rozwoju śledztwa, Teddy odkrywa coraz więcej szokujących faktów na temat wyspy i zaczyna rozumieć, że niektórych miejsc nie da się opuścić... nigdy.
Federal Marshall Teddy Daniels and his new partner Chuck Aule travel to a government-run mental institution for the criminally insane on Shutter Island, near Boston, when there is a report that one of the prisoners has gone missing. Daniels has his own reasons for wanting to get to the island and carries baggage of his own. He is still traumatized from what he saw when his army unit liberated one of the Nazi concentration camps at the end of World War II and is still haunted by the more recent death in a fire of his wife. The head of the hospital, Dr. John Cawley, treats him alright but others give the agents a less than warm reception. Daniels particularly wants to find out what is going on in one of the wards, reserved for the most serious offenders. As Daniels begins to peal away the layers of deceit, it becomes obvious that not all is as it seems.
