95/100

A wailing and desperate cry of anguish and pain constructed within the leering jungle of NYC, Shame isn't so much a study of sexual addiction as it is a tortuous insight into crumbling relationships of the modern world. In Steve McQueen's film (which is possibly his masterpiece), feelings aren't told or even visualized as much as they're already within the details of the frame. Genuine conversation and aching truth make up every speck of grain from the gorgeous 35mm photography, and the result is a work of unpleasant frankness and harrowing sincerity.

Michael Fassbender is the obvious highlight here, and he's just as incredible, engaging, and unrelentingly sad as you'd expect from him in a role such as this,…

Film#30 of 'It's June Jim, but not as we know it '

This isn't a film about sex addiction. It's a film about a man torn in half by himself. The addiction is a mere vehicle for an exploration of control, humanity and self destruction.

Fassbender is amazing and easily gives one of the best performances I have seen in a couple of years. He is reprehensible, charming and unbelievably sad. His character, a man desperately running away from himself yet totally dependent on himself, is intriguing. What McQueen is able to do like no other director is to allow us to enter the mind of his characters. He is an observer and that is how he shoots his films,…

Sex addiction is often seen as a rather silly and trivial addiction, one that celebrities wheel out when their infidelities become public knowledge. Yet in Steve McQueen's second feature it is portrayed as potentially serious, debilitating and life destroying as drug or alcohol addiction. The film is as utterly empty as Brandon's own existence and whilst that may sound like a flaw it really isn't. McQueen puts you in his world and gets under the skin of Brandon's hollow life and ambiguous family backstory. It is odd coming out of a film where you feel so little, normally they aim to heighten emotions not numb them, but it is crucial in understanding the character and the world he inhabits for…

Steve McQueen's follow-up to his critically acclaimed directional debut is another powerfully compelling, unflinchingly graphic & downright disturbing example of arthouse cinema focusing on the devastating effects of addiction that presents the director in prime form, is crafted with precision care & meticulous attention to detail, and benefits greatly from another excellent performance from Michael Fassbender.

Set in New York City, Shame follows the life of Brandon; a 30-something man who's a sex addict. While his carefully cultivated private life does allow him to indulge in his unhealthy dependency without any major consequences, his whole world spirals out of control when his sister unexpectedly arrives in town to stay with him for an indefinite amount of time as Brandon struggles to keep…