Movie Review-Shame

Rating-Not Rated

Director-Steve McQueen

Actors-Michael Fassbender, Carey Mulligan
Genre-Drama
Year-2011

“Shame” is one of the best movies of last year. It is about a  man named Brandon (Michael Fassbender) who lives in New York City. Brandon is a sex addict who lives alone, and doesn’t seem to have any family or friends. The movie begins by following Brandon through his seemingly never-ending cycle of one-night stands, using prostitutes, and online porn. Brandon’s  life is disrupted when his estranged younger sister, Sissy (Carey Mulligan) shows up at his apartment one night, needing a place to stay for a while. Sissy also seems troubled, but she is a more outgoing and trusting person than Brandon. There isn’t too much of a plot to this movie. It is more about Brandon struggling with the addiction, and how he deals with his sister being in his life again. Understandably, this movie has a lot of nudity and frank sexual content. I appreciated how the sex scenes weren’t glamourized or erotic in any way. They were shot in a detatched way, which seemed to mirror Brandon’s view of sex as empty and emotionless. Michael Fassbender gave an amazing performance as Brandon, in one of the greatest performances I’ve seen from 2011. Carey Mulligan was also impressive. I’m very surprised that neither of them were nominated for Oscars. I wasn’t too surprised that “Shame” wasn’t nominated for Best Picture, although I thought it would have definitely been a worthy nominee. It probably won’t be for everyone, but I really recommend watching “Shame”.