10 Great Films About Addiction

Shame isn't about drugs or alcohol addiction, but something much more socially taboo and troubling. Michael Fassbender gives a staggering performance as Brandon Sullivan, a successful New York businessman who hides from the world his all-consuming sex addiction.

After his sister Sissy (Carey Mulligan) arrives in town, Brandon finds his secret harder and harder to hide, as his addiction reaches potentially dangerous levels.

An incredibly powerful film, Shame tackles its subject matter with unflinching honesty and crafts out of Fassbender's performance a remarkable and deeply unsettling character study. Difficult it may be to watch, but it's also absolutely hypnotising - no matter how dark and sinister things become, you can't look away.

Shame is a unique vision of a film, looking into an addiction very rarely talked about in society - let alone on TV - and demands to be seen for its acting, relentlessly dark tone and thoughtfully handled themes alone.