Shutter Island Poster Analysis

Dark colours are used in this poster, with the main focus being on the lighted match he is holding. Red is used to highlight the name, and the release date of the film.


The water surrounding the island suggests isolation. The dark water and the rain could reflect dark events that could happen.

The poster mostly conveys ideas visually, with reinforcement through the tag line “someone is missing”. This creates intrigue as it tells you a tiny piece of information about the film.

The eye is drawn to the match, and then down the page to the photographic image, with the title. The actor is recognisable from the photo, but this is reinforced by printing his name above the title, using him as a unique selling point.

As it is quite an ambitious poster, it could suggest that the film has a large budget, and this is reinforced by Leonardo DiCaprio being the lead.

This poster is effective; it engages the audience as they feel familiar with the actor, they know what sort of film they are preparing themselves for, and it communicating well with the audience, telling them the name and the date it will be released.