[7] It received generally positive reviews, with praise for Fassbender's and Mulligan's performances, realistic depiction of sexual addiction, and direction.
Brandon Sullivan is a sex-addicted executive living in New York City; he frequently has sex with prostitutes, views pornography, and masturbates several times daily.
One day, Brandon makes eye contact with a woman wearing an engagement ring on the subway during his morning commute.
She finds his laptop open on a pornographic webcam site; Brandon slams it shut, and a disturbed Sissy leaves.
While Brandon is riding the subway home, the passengers are asked to disembark due to a police emergency, implying a suicide.
Screenwriter Abi Morgan was chosen to write the script, making it one of two films she worked on with Film4 (the other being The Iron Lady).
[9] Actors Carey Mulligan and James Badge Dale joined the cast in December 2010 to play the younger sister and boss, respectively, of Fassbender's character.
Kaufman had a unique assignment from McQueen, who wanted top-quality actors even for tiny parts – like Brandon's fly-by-night sexual partners.
"The idea was that those partners would propel the story forward with their silence, showing Brandon's state of mind, or even suggesting the history of their relationship with a look or a gesture.
The website's critics consensus reads, "Boasting stellar performances by Michael Fassbender and Carey Mulligan, Shame is a powerful plunge into the mania of addiction affliction.
[29] Todd McCarthy of The Hollywood Reporter gave the film a positive review, stating, "Driven by a brilliant, ferocious performance by Michael Fassbender, Shame is a real walk on the wild side, a scorching look at a case of sexual addiction that's as all-encompassing as a craving for drugs.
McQueen has followed Hunger with an unflinching and compelling film that explores the depths of addiction and the consequential destruction and demise of the mind and although it is sometimes difficult to watch, you won't be able to keep your eyes off it.
"[31] Justin Chang of Variety gave the film a positive review, commenting, "A mesmerizing companion piece to his 2008 debut, Hunger, this more approachable but equally uncompromising drama likewise fixes its gaze on the uses and abuses of the human body, as Michael Fassbender again strips himself down, in every way an actor can, for McQueen's rigorous but humane interrogation.
"[32] Writing in The New York Times, A. O. Scott said, "McQueen wants to show how the intensity of Brandon's need shuts him off from real intimacy, but this seems to be a foregone conclusion, the result of an elegant experiment that was rigged from the start.
"[33] Donald Clarke of The Irish Times called it "the most wholesome film made about unwholesomeness since The Exorcist" noting that "the underlying current of Puritanism is, however, more than a little oppressive".
"[35] In the blog for the British journal The Art of Psychiatry, psychiatrist Abby Seltzer praised Mulligan for her portrayal of an individual with borderline personality disorder.
While she had initially approached the film warily because of reviews that focused on Brandon's sex addiction, she found it "a moving and accurate portrayal of psychopathology ... [that should be] compulsory viewing for all practising clinicians.