Rotten
The film's numb attitude assumes that Brandon's problem is beyond reach or rescue. So why are we watching, except for high-tone misery and something close to pornography?
David Thomson, The New Republic
Overview
Brandon, a thirty-something man living in New York, eludes intimacy with women but feeds his deepest desires with a compulsive addiction to sex. When his younger sister temporarily moves into his apartment, stirring up bitter memories of their shared painful past, Brandon's life, like his fragile mind, gets out of control.
Director and cast
Critics on Rotten Tomatoes
Top critics, in their words
79%
Tomatometer
Fresh
The film is a raw, unsparing look at the downside of humanity.
Calvin Wilson, St. Louis Post-Dispatch
Fresh
It reconfirms McQueen as a filmmaker with an unflinching, microscopic gaze on the world.
Dave Calhoun, Time Out
Fresh
Few filmmakers have plumbed the soul-churning depths of sexual addiction as fearlessly as British director Steve McQueen has in Shame.
Justin Chang, Variety
Rotten
Shame is something of a dirty date that leaves you wondering what went wrong.
Tom Long, Detroit News
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