Shame
2011
****
Director: Steve McQueen
Cast: Michael Fassbender, Carey Mulligan, James Badge Dale, Nicole Beharie, Lucy Walters, Mari-Ange Ramirez, Alex Manette, Hannah Ware, Elizabeth Masucci, Rachel Farrar, Loren Omer, Lauren Tyrrell, Marta Milans, Jake Siciliano, Robert Montano
Steve McQueen's second film is a powerful contemporary drama about addiction and loneliness. Brandon is a successful, single New York professional and an emotionally crippled sex addict whose carefully maintained facade begins to crack when his troubled sister comes for a visit. These two broken and self-destructive individuals carry scars from their shared childhood. The excellent Michael Fassbender once again throws himself full-on into the role, thankfully without repeating the cruelling physical transformation he underwent for McQueen's Hunger. Carey Mulligan, often typecast in similarly quiet and ethereal roles, is a revelation as Sissy.
