where was shutter island filmed

“Shutter Island” was filmed mainly in and around Massachusetts, with a few dramatic landscape shots done in Maine and California.

Main short answer

Most of Shutter Island was shot in Massachusetts, especially at Medfield State Hospital and on Peddocks Island in Boston Harbor, with additional key scenes filmed in Acadia National Park in Maine and along the Big Sur coastline in California.

Key filming locations

• Medfield State Hospital, Medfield, Massachusetts – Primary asylum exteriors and interiors.

• Peddocks Island, Boston Harbor, Massachusetts – The island itself and ferry arrival area.

• Whittenton Mills, Taunton, Massachusetts – World War II/Dachau flashback sequences.

• Borderland State Park (Leach Pond lodge), Easton/Sharon, Massachusetts – The lakeside cottage murder flashback.

• Wilson Mountain Reservation, Dedham, Massachusetts – Forest and hurricane/storm scenes.

• Turner Hill Golf Club, Ipswich, Massachusetts – The imposing executive mansion and baronial interiors.

• East Point, Nahant, Massachusetts – Lighthouse area and surrounding rocky shore (with the lighthouse structure largely added via effects).

Beyond Massachusetts

• Acadia National Park, Maine (Otter Cliff) – Steep cliff and rocky shoreline Teddy climbs near the “lighthouse.”

• Big Sur, California – Extra stormy ocean shots used to amp up the rough sea around the island.

In essence, if you’re wondering “where was Shutter Island filmed,” think “greater Boston for the hospital and island, Maine for the cliffs, and California for the wild ocean.”

TL;DR: Shutter Island was primarily filmed in Massachusetts (Medfield State Hospital, Peddocks Island, various state parks), with dramatic cliff and ocean shots from Acadia National Park in Maine and Big Sur in California.