‘The Departed’ Mistakes You’ll Never Be Able to Unsee

Martin Scorsese’s Boston crime thriller is tightly cut and ferociously acted, but it’s also sprinkled with small continuity and prop hiccups that pop once you know where to look. These aren’t matters of taste—just concrete on-screen mismatches, resets, and visual resets that slipped through the edit. If you enjoy catching the nuts-and-bolts of filmmaking at work, here are ten specific goofs you can spot the next time you revisit ‘The Departed’.

The briefing-room map that falls… then magically reappears

During Ellerby’s heated briefing about the surveillance install, he slaps at a board and knocks a wall map clean off. In the very next shot, while he’s still chewing the team out, the same map is back in place as if nothing happened. The sequence cuts between angles without showing anyone rehanging it. It’s a straight continuity reset within the same outburst.

A bloody phone button that cleans itself between cuts

Right after Queenan’s death, Sullivan picks up his cell and presses “talk,” leaving a visible smear of blood on the keypad. When the camera angle changes, the blood mark is gone from the button. The shot returns again and the phone remains clean, with no wipe or swap shown. It’s a prop state change across consecutive shots in the same moment.

Costello’s funeral-card handwriting changes mid-scene

At Billy Costigan’s mother’s funeral, he reads a condolence card signed by Frank Costello. In a wider view, the signature appears in a bold, heavy script; in the close-up, the writing style is suddenly thinner and noticeably different. No second card is introduced or exchanged to explain the change. The signature style simply doesn’t match between angles.

Incense smoke resets during young Sullivan’s Mass

When young Colin Sullivan attends Mass, the priest swings a thurible releasing incense. A cut later, the smoke is gone and the priest’s position resets, only for the swinging action to repeat as if continuity rolled back a few seconds. The background timing and motion don’t line up across the cut. It’s the same beat played twice from mismatched coverage.

The tissue box that rearranges itself in Madolyn’s office

While Costigan meets with Madolyn in her office, a tissue box on her desk subtly jumps positions between angles. The number of visible tissues and how they protrude also changes from shot to shot. Nothing in the scene accounts for the movement. It’s a simple desktop prop continuity slip.

Coffee cup appears, toothpick disappears in the café

In the coffee shop scene with Madolyn, Costigan has a toothpick at his mouth during dialogue. After a cut, a coffee cup is suddenly raised near his lips and the toothpick is gone. The edit doesn’t show him lowering one or removing the other, and the objects trade places instantaneously. The hand-to-mouth business doesn’t match across coverage.

Ellerby’s sweat patterns don’t stay consistent

During the microprocessor briefing, Ellerby’s shirt shows clear sweat patches. As the scene cuts between angles, those patches shift in size and intensity, then nearly dry, then return. There’s no time gap or action to justify the change. It’s wardrobe continuity drifting across takes.

Patrol-car light bars turn on—then on again

When Costello and Mr. French run into police outside, a shot shows a cruiser’s light bar snapping on. The next angle shows other cars’ lights still off, then turning on, and a subsequent angle has yet another light bar flipping from off to on in a split second. The sequence restarts the “lights on” beat from multiple takes. The lighting states don’t carry over between cuts.

Costello’s cigarette vanishes between lines

Early in the film, as Costello delivers his “cops or criminals” line, he has a cigarette at his mouth. He leans in for the next line and—without any movement to remove it—the cigarette is gone. The following shot continues the speech with no explanation for the missing prop. It’s a classic continuity pop on a small handheld item.

Sullivan’s call display shows different numbers

In the aftermath of the warehouse death, Sullivan places a call to Costigan and we see the outbound number on his phone. Moments later, when Costigan calls back, the display shows a different originating number than the one just dialed. The phones themselves are the same handsets shown seconds apart; only the on-screen numbers don’t match. That mismatch is visible right in the UI close-ups.

Got another sharp-eyed catch from ‘The Departed’? Drop it in the comments and tell us where to pause!