WHAT have the Wales Six Nations team and Leonardo DiCaprio's turn in Shutter Island got in common? Neither starts performing until the second half.

That said, just like those second halves on the pitch, it is well worth waiting for.

Martin Scorsese's latest outing with DiCaprio is one of the most compelling thrillers I've ever seen, disturbing and thought-provoking in equal measure, it questions the nature of violence, trust and one's own reality.

The action, set in 1954, centres on US Marshal Teddy Daniels (DiCaprio) who is sent, along with his partner Chuck (Mark Ruffalo), to investigate the disappearance of a child murderess from Shutter Island (a mental asylum on an island, essentially Alcatraz for the criminally insane).

While there, a storm kills the island's power and communication with anyone beyond the island is impossible.

What follows is a rapid journey of confusion for the audience and Daniels himself - as the prisoners escape and the detective begins to question his own sanity.

This is a beautifully shot crime thriller which sets a complicated and disturbing plot against a complementary stark and barren backdrop.

The cinematography nods to the cop dramas of the 1950s and some frames could have been pulled directly from a Dick Tracy comic strip.

Also starring Ben Kingsley and Michelle Williams, Shutter Island is a welcome break from the effects-laden offerings of late, back to real, human-led action and drama. A must-see.

SD

This film was viewed at the Odeon Cinema in Parc Tawe, Swansea.