A powerhouse, no holds barred performance from Michael Fassbender headlines this harrowing portrayal of a man living with the hell of sex addiction in Shame.

Once in a while a young actor delivers a tour de force performance which marks him as a great to look out for. Irish/German actor Michael Fassbender already has two.

The first was in the harrowing drama Hunger, where Fassbender played IRA soldier and prisoner Bobby Sands who died from the results of a hunger strike. Now Fassbender re-teams with Hunger director Steve McQueen in Shame, where this time he plays a man struggling to break free from another kind of prison.

Fassbender stars as Brandon, a moderately successful bachelor who occupies his spare time with prostitutes, pornography and anyone looking for a quick shag. Most men would find such recreational activity heaven on earth, but in Shame McQueen along with fellow screenwriter Abi Morgan accurately portrays the shallowness that such a life will eventually lead to.

Routine and isolation are the elements needed for Brandon’s addiction to flourish, away from the guise of work colleagues who do not suspect a thing, although viewing hard-core porn on his office PC and wanking in the work toilets does leave him vulnerable to exposure.

Brandon’s world is turned upside down is when his unstable sister Sissy (Carey Mulligan) crashes the scene. Her presence is a burden for two reasons: First is that she is a kink in his routine of sex-work-sex-sleep. Second is she represents something that happened in the past, not mentioned but eluded to with Sissy digging up old wounds which Brandon hates and reviles her for. Exactly what happened between the two is a mystery and McQueen is smart enough not to reveal any secrets. Yet whatever it was is no doubt the root in Brandon’s insatiable need for sex to get through the day.

Mulligan’s performance is quite effective. A scene where she performs an aching rendition of “New York, New York” straight to camera as McQueen holds the shot (and how he loves to hold his shots) is both a brave and beautiful moment.

But what made that moment even more special is Fassbender’s reaction. In fact, his whole performance is something of a masterwork, with its mixture of (albeit brave) shock nudity and raw emotion.

While controversy has and will surround the copious amounts of flesh and sex features (which at times venture dangerously close to pornography and is worthy of its R rating), it is what’s happening underneath the surface which impress the most, those moments of quiet reflection and simmering emotion which struggle to breakthrough that makes Fassbender’s performance one for the ages.

Shame is an important film. It shows how one man’s darkness is fuelled by the worst attributes of western culture, and how sex without a connection – whether it be spiritual or emotional – renders the act soulless.

Fassbender and McQueen have proven to be quite the duo. Whatever the two plot next is worthy of high anticipation.