British director Steve McQueen’s “Shame” showcases an Oscar-caliber performance by Michael Fassbender as a Manhattan sex addict in a film already notorious for its full frontal male and female nudity, which will guarantee an NC-17 rating.
Set to be released by Fox Searchlight by the end of the year, “Shame” is basically “Leaving Las Vegas” with sex instead of drugs. Short on plot and catharsis and long on misery and grimy sex, it’s grim and often hard to watch as Fassbender’s marketing executive sinks lower and lower into the abyss.
Carey Mulligan, whom I’ve long regarded as wildly overrated as an actress, finally begins to live up to her reputation as Fassbender’s suicidal sister. Her uninvited arrival at his apartment — and her involvement with his married boss — has unfortunate consequences for both of them.
This raw, sexually explicit film — which will show next month at the New York Film Festival — seems to me like it will appeal more to the New York Film Critics Circle than to mainstream audiences.