Shame
Hard-hitting drama from director Steve McQueen (Hunger). Brandon's (Michael Fassbender) carefully cultivated sex addiction is interrupted by the unannounced arrival of his sister (Carey Mulligan).
"Brandon is a New Yorker who shuns intimacy with women but feeds his desires with a compulsive addiction to sex. When his wayward younger sister (Carey Mulligan) moves into his apartment stirring memories of their shared painful past, Brandon's insular life spirals out of control." (Official Synopsis)
- Director:
- Steve McQueen ('Hunger')
- Cast:
- Michael FassbenderCarey MulliganAmy HargreavesHannah WareJames Badge DaleNicole Beharie
Reviews & comments
This Film Needs More Attention
Shame makes it 2/2 for Steve McQueen in a big bad way and reconfirms Fassbender as one of the best actors working right now. How he didn't get an Oscar nod for this is a real shame. The film follows Brandon (Fassbender) as he struggles with sexual addictions, both real and virtual while at the same time, putting up his sister who has her own set of...
What porn does to some
Brandon can't have relationships or make love. He is addicted to sordid brutal, depersonalised f******. The film implies this is an outcome of the worst kind of hard core porn addiction. 'Shame' takes on our hypersexualised times fearlessly and is a profound portrayal of the distortion and damage to those vulnerable. Brandon is a victim, and he is not a...
from theaterofthecommonman.com
Is it possible to both love and loath a film at the same time? I'm not trying to sound cliche, in fact it's a very real question. Today's film Shame has for the first time in 2012 thrown me into complete internal disaccord. I have certainly felt confliction on my journey thus far, but never to the extent which I could clearly define and feel both love and...
Masterful, but difficult
2011 was a hell of a year for Michael Fassbender, a year in which he effortlessly hopped genres and worked with some of the best directors around, building one of the most impressive filmographies of any young actor at this time. Yet the one performance that will be remembered over all others comes from the most low-key film, Steve McQueen's SHAME. As grim...
Still processing
My wife gives it a 3 and me a 4. This movie has layers and subtlety to it. The story centres on a short time in the life of a brother and sister who for their own reasons are struggling with life in different ways. She say's he's a weirdo. That could be due to his preoccupation with sex whether it be girls he's picked up, prostitutes, self stimulation,...
American Psycho if it wasn't funny
Shame was intense. I found myself all tensed up in terror and disgust multiple times, but nonetheless transfixed and entertained. It was like American Psycho minus the hilarity but still including the douche bag employees (his boss mainly, he NAILS that role). Fassbender is truly amazing, he has this simmering anger which is very unnerving even though his...
nothing is resolved
which may well be the point, but it takes a lot of very slow scenes in order to not resolve anything we are given no insight into what caused the pain that the two lead characters are dealing with. despite ultimately showing he cares deeply about his sister Fassbender's character is never likeable and my response to him went from appaled to pity. well...
A trip to the dark side of the psyche
Like director Steve McQueen's 'Hunger,' which also starred Michael Fassbender, 'Shame' is a character study. Like real life, much is unsaid; much left unresolved and there is no traditional Hollywood narrative with a neat beginning, middle and end. This is an attempt at exposing (in every sense) the complexity of existing. If there is a plot, then suffice...
Variety
pressCertain to arouse critical acclaim and smart-audience interest wherever it's shown.
USA Today
pressWith its focus on relentless sexual craving the movie is superficially bold, but lacks the bravery to go all the way.
Total Film
pressNot for the faint-hearted, prudish or impatient, Shame is as complex and ambiguous as its characters.
Time Magazine
pressIn a movie era remarkable for its reluctance to dramatize erotic intimacy, Shame merits praise for the dark energy of its sexual encounters.
The Guardian
pressShame is a disturbing film that penetrates our minds and gets beneath our skins as we try to understand its characters.
Roger Ebert
pressThis is a great act of filmmaking and acting. I don't believe I would be able to see it twice.
Los Angeles Times
pressThis is a psychologically claustrophobic film that strips its characters bare literally and figuratively, leaving them, and us, nowhere to hide.
Hollywood Reporter
pressIts dramatic and stylistic prowess provides a cinematic jolt that is bracing to experience.
Entertainment Weekly
pressThe biggest surprise in Shame is how distanced, passionless, and merely skin-deep the director's attention is - how little he cares about the subject of his own movie.
Empire Magazine
pressBrave, beautifully acted and emotionally revealing — an early strong contender for the most provocative and compelling film of the year.
The Telegraph
pressShame is packed with scenes which are both immaculately composed and seething with meaning.
Variety
pressCertain to arouse critical acclaim and smart-audience interest wherever it's shown.
USA Today
pressWith its focus on relentless sexual craving the movie is superficially bold, but lacks the bravery to go all the way.
Total Film
pressNot for the faint-hearted, prudish or impatient, Shame is as complex and ambiguous as its characters.
Time Magazine
pressIn a movie era remarkable for its reluctance to dramatize erotic intimacy, Shame merits praise for the dark energy of its sexual encounters.
The Guardian
pressShame is a disturbing film that penetrates our minds and gets beneath our skins as we try to understand its characters.
Roger Ebert
pressThis is a great act of filmmaking and acting. I don't believe I would be able to see it twice.
Los Angeles Times
pressThis is a psychologically claustrophobic film that strips its characters bare literally and figuratively, leaving them, and us, nowhere to hide.
Hollywood Reporter
pressIts dramatic and stylistic prowess provides a cinematic jolt that is bracing to experience.
Entertainment Weekly
pressThe biggest surprise in Shame is how distanced, passionless, and merely skin-deep the director's attention is - how little he cares about the subject of his own movie.
Empire Magazine
pressBrave, beautifully acted and emotionally revealing — an early strong contender for the most provocative and compelling film of the year.
The Telegraph
pressShame is packed with scenes which are both immaculately composed and seething with meaning.
This Film Needs More Attention
Shame makes it 2/2 for Steve McQueen in a big bad way and reconfirms Fassbender as one of the best actors working right now. How he didn't get an Oscar nod for this is a real shame. The film follows Brandon (Fassbender) as he struggles with sexual addictions, both real and virtual while at the same time, putting up his sister who has her own set of...
What porn does to some
Brandon can't have relationships or make love. He is addicted to sordid brutal, depersonalised f******. The film implies this is an outcome of the worst kind of hard core porn addiction. 'Shame' takes on our hypersexualised times fearlessly and is a profound portrayal of the distortion and damage to those vulnerable. Brandon is a victim, and he is not a...
from theaterofthecommonman.com
Is it possible to both love and loath a film at the same time? I'm not trying to sound cliche, in fact it's a very real question. Today's film Shame has for the first time in 2012 thrown me into complete internal disaccord. I have certainly felt confliction on my journey thus far, but never to the extent which I could clearly define and feel both love...
Masterful, but difficult
2011 was a hell of a year for Michael Fassbender, a year in which he effortlessly hopped genres and worked with some of the best directors around, building one of the most impressive filmographies of any young actor at this time. Yet the one performance that will be remembered over all others comes from the most low-key film, Steve McQueen's SHAME. As...
Still processing
My wife gives it a 3 and me a 4. This movie has layers and subtlety to it. The story centres on a short time in the life of a brother and sister who for their own reasons are struggling with life in different ways. She say's he's a weirdo. That could be due to his preoccupation with sex whether it be girls he's picked up, prostitutes, self stimulation,...
American Psycho if it wasn't funny
Shame was intense. I found myself all tensed up in terror and disgust multiple times, but nonetheless transfixed and entertained. It was like American Psycho minus the hilarity but still including the douche bag employees (his boss mainly, he NAILS that role). Fassbender is truly amazing, he has this simmering anger which is very unnerving even though...
nothing is resolved
which may well be the point, but it takes a lot of very slow scenes in order to not resolve anything we are given no insight into what caused the pain that the two lead characters are dealing with. despite ultimately showing he cares deeply about his sister Fassbender's character is never likeable and my response to him went from appaled to pity. well...
A trip to the dark side of the psyche
Like director Steve McQueen's 'Hunger,' which also starred Michael Fassbender, 'Shame' is a character study. Like real life, much is unsaid; much left unresolved and there is no traditional Hollywood narrative with a neat beginning, middle and end. This is an attempt at exposing (in every sense) the complexity of existing. If there is a plot, then suffice...
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