"Shame" is like "American Psycho" without the murders.  

"Shame" probably explains why Steve McQueen had to make an overbearingly meaningful film like "12 Years a Slave". 

"Shame" isn't a terribly bad film, only terribly unnecessary. It has no reason to exist. It adds nothing to our understanding of a nihilistic society where all need has been eliminated and all that is left is an abnormal vacuum. This is well understood. We've seen it countless times.

I regret having wasted two hours of my life on the trite distress of the "1 percent of the 1 percenters" and their inability to form emotional bonds beyond lust and possession. 

Michael Fassbander wastes a good effort on this and Carey Mulligan, a terribly overrated actress wastes another bout of overacting.