20 Things You Somehow Missed In Shutter Island
9. The Guards Aren't Actually Looking For Rachel
Teddy and Chuck visit Shutter Island on the pretense of investigating the disappearance of Rachel Solando, who of course turns out to not exist, having been created in Teddy's mind.
But there's a major clue hinting at this when we see the island's guards apparently searching for Rachel - or as the case may be, not.
The guards are largely seen to be less-than-enthusiastic about finding Rachel, with Scorsese showing them sitting down, laughing, and otherwise not giving a damn about an escaped patient.
While we're led to believe this is simply a case of the guards being callously unsympathetic, it's of course because they know Rachel doesn't exist and are simply playing along with Teddy's delusion in thoroughly half-baked fashion.