10 Opening Movie Scenes That Wanted To Make You Uncomfortable

In the hands of a less-astute and considerate filmmaker, one can imagine sex addiction drama Shame striking a very different chord indeed, where a warts-and-all examination of compulsive sexuality becomes titillating and even exploitative.

Yet right from Shame's opening scene, director Steve McQueen ensures to drain all possible appeal from the film's frank depiction of sex, reimagining these encounters as the soulless, passionless transactions of a man driven by the sheer need to do it.

Shame's stunningly ominous nine-minute opening presents a montage of sex-addicted protagonist Brandon (an Oscar-worthy Michael Fassbender) as he goes about his daily routine.

He wakes up, commutes to work, leers at women on the train, has sex with sex workers back at his apartment, aggressively pleasures himself in the shower, and ignores voicemail messages from his concerned sister, Sissy (Carey Mulligan).

The scene culminates in a wordless exchange between Brandon and an attractive woman he's been making eyes with on the train to work.

She's receptive at first before becoming uncomfortable at the situation, flashing her engagement ring, and then disappearing into the crowd while Brandon chases after her in vain.

It's a brilliantly effective sequence in both confirming Brandon's predatory nature and also how little genuine pleasure he seems to derive from sex: it is simply a compulsion.

McQueen impressively makes Brandon's sex-filled life seem hollow and ugly, a tone which follows through for the rest of the film.