Is there a connection between Shutter Island/Inception and Westworld?

If you’ve ever been sucked into the Reddit-verse, then perhaps you may have come across the Westworld/Shutter Island/Inception connection. But the question is–do you agree with it?

Westworld has taken fans to the depths of theorizing and putting together the pieces of the very convoluted story from the past two seasons. But if you’ve ever gone down the rabbit hole of theories then you are most likely familiar with Reddit.

Fans flock to Reddit to post their theories, ideas, and assumptions about each episode and season and one common discussion seems to be trying to find a connection between the series and Inception and Shutter Island. Now, you may be wondering, seriously, is there even anything to connect here and isn’t this just a colossal waste of time? And does the connection even matter?

Well, whether or not it matters and if the connection is even substantial enough to discuss, Reddit posts have made it worth looking into just for the sake of entertainment. So, let’s explore some of the most interesting connections fans have made, shall we?

One of the most noted observations on Reddit has been pointing out that Leonardo DiCaprio’s character from Shutter Island is Teddy and his wife’s name is Dolores. Dun, dun, dun. Is it possible that these Westworld character names were influenced by the movie?

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Another popular discussion stems from the comparison between Inception and Westworld. For example, Redditor DrNo610 created a visual comparison between the opening scene of season 2 with Bernard washing up on the beach and the scene where DiCaprio’s character washes up on the beach.

Other Redditors pointed out the similarity between Bernard recalling that Dolores is in Charlotte’s body to the Inception scene when DiCaprio’s character, Cobb, finds Saito at an elderly age and is reminded of the arrangement they had previously made.

There is also the mention of what elevators represent in both Westworld and Inception–a way to dig deeper into the subconscious, so to speak.

But the most interesting comparison I found while perusing Reddit, was that of Redditor Bouncer02 who did an in-depth analysis of season 1, episode 3 and compared it to Inception.

The scene is when Dolores arrives at the ranch and finds her dead father and at that moment she seems to have a flashback and her father changes into a “new” Peter Abernathy.

The Redditor goes to on to break down minute by minute what the flashbacks are and names them by levels just like they did in Inception. It’s a very, very interesting analysis and definitely worth checking out in more detail to see how eerie and amazing the connections are. Check out the analysis here!

These connections may not be plausible and may just be random points coming together but it is curious as Inception was made by co-creator Jonathan Nolan’s brother, Christopher Nolan, and Leonardo DiCaprio was in both Inception and Shutter Island.

And whether you believe these connections or not, it’s fun to try and understand Westworld on a deeper level (ha, get it?).

What do you think of these numerous connections to the series through Inception and Shutter Island? Share your thoughts below or on our Twitter, @BeyondWestworld.