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Shame

An outwardly ordinary man must come to terms with his inner compulsions in this powerful drama from filmmaker Steve McQueen. Brandon (Michael Fassbender) is a successful businessman in his early 30s who lives in New York. To most around him, Brandon seems cool and introverted, but inside Brandon is wrestling with a powerful sexual appetites; he's obsessed with pornography and prefers short-term relationships with women that allow him to keep the world at arm's length. The grim routine of Brandon's life is upended when his sister Sissy (Carey Mulligan) stops by for an extended visit without prior notice. While Brandon is reserved, Sissy is a musician, outgoing and flashy, who doesn't seem to care about her brother's need for privacy. As Sissy forces Brandon to look closely at his present, he also must confront with his past, and comes to understand the circumstances that made him the man he is today as his veneer of calm begins to crack. Shame won the Firpresci Award (presented by the International Federation of Film Critics) at the 2011 Venice Film Festival. - Mark Deming, Rovi