Directed by: Steve McQueen
Starring: Michael Fassbender, Carey Mulligan, Nicole Beharie
Rated: NC-17
101 minutes

Michael Fassbender stars in “Shame.” (Courtesy photo)

The chatter going around about "Shame" is that this is going to be the NC-17 movie to change the public perception of NC-17 movies. The dreaded rating is usually reserved for filthy movies, but the people behind "Shame" are pushing the movie as more important than a rating. To be sure, this movie definitely makes for an awkward night at the theater (yes, it's even worse than when I saw "Borat" while sitting next to my parents), but the movie's provocativeness has a deeper purpose.

Director Steve McQueen and his cast are fearless, aiming for a sensitive look at a problem no one wants to talk about.

"Shame" is an up-close-and-extremely-personal look at a man with a sex addiction. Brandon (Michael Fassbender, "Inglourious Basterds") is a fairly wealthy New York businessman. He lives in a spacious apartment; he has a successful job; his friends think he's great. But he has a secret: he can't help himself when it comes to, shall we say, self-indulgence.

From the content on his computer, to the women he, er, meets at night, to his, ahem, habits when he's alone—gee, is it getting warm in here?—he's lost control of himself. Then, out of nowhere, his sister Sissy (Carey Mulligan, "An Education") shows up, asking to stay with him for an indefinite period of time. Begrudgingly, he lets her stay, but her loose-cannon lifestyle (certainly not as wild as his, but still helter-skelter) begins to interfere with Brandon's addiction.

He tries to keep his social life normal, even attempting to court his coworker Marianne (Nicole Beharie, "American Violet"), but it's no use. He has a problem, and the more he puts off confronting it, the further away he drifts, both from his friends and from his sister, until he has no one left.

Put simply, this movie is a downer. However, it is a carefully crafted one, and one that makes you think while you watch. I mean that as both a positive and a negative. Yes, we're thinking about the social implications of this often-ignored issue, but the movie goes slowly enough that we have the chance to have fully developed thoughts about its social implications even though we're in the middle of the action. McQueen ("Hunger") has brought to the screen a very specific vision, and we get the sense the movie is exactly as he wanted it, but unfortunately it's a cinematic vision that consists of a lot of meaningful glances, slow scenes, and images that stay on screen for too long. The almost painfully art-house cinematography and the faint classical soundtrack beat us over the head; this is a cerebral movie, gosh darn it, and you'd better come prepared to ponder.

The actors are fully on board with the venture, which gives the film a welcome sense of unity, and what's more, the acting is great all around. Fassbender is having quite a year, coming off leads in "Jane Eyre," "X-Men: First Class," and with another lead in "A Dangerous Method" in theaters right now. This is the role that shows them all up, though. This is his breakout role if ever he had one, and it's one of the bravest performances in recent memory, not only because of his willingness to bare all on camera, but also because he fully takes on the role's gloomy sensibilities. We know what he's thinking from the slightest glance, but at the same time he keeps us guessing at what could happen next. Mulligan and Beharie, our leading female characters, are both great at adding some vibrancy to an otherwise glum movie, and Beharie in particular plays her role with almost perfect realism.

If what I've read in various articles about the film is true, its ultimate success will hinge on whether the public will learn to accept an NC-17 movie as a legitimate artistic endeavor. I think that's only part of it, though. "Shame" is a movie you watch to appreciate and understand, not necessarily to enjoy. That might appease the people who are worried about its artistic value, but to a certain extent it's becoming "the sex addiction movie." While it has the prominent ratings hurdle to jump, the real question, I think, is whether we will remember it as more than just the Movie that Dared.

Danny Eisenberg is a 2010 graduate of the Bromfield School and is currently a student at the University of Pennsylvania.