Director Steve McQueen's Shame, a no-holds-barred movie about a man in the grip of sexual addiction, has officially received an NC-17 rating.

The rating was widely expected and Fox Searchlight knew the film, starring Michael Fassbender and Carey Mulligan, would likely receive an NC-17. It includes full frontal male and female nudity and graphic sex.

The movie opens in limited -- and with the NC-17, extremely limited -- release on December 2.

According to the Motion Picture Association of America, which rates movies, NC-17 films are patently adult. Children are not admitted, even with their parents.

An NC-17 rating affects a movie's ability to make money for a number of reasons. Among the most important, many theaters won't show them. The rating also makes advertising difficult.

The movie is an Oscar contender, and Fox Searchlight is aggressively pushing it for a number of awards including Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actress and Best Director.

Shame stars Fassbender as Brandon, a man who is addicted to sex, whose private life is disrupted when his sister, Cissy, played by Mulligan, shows up for an unannounced -- and indefinite -- visit.

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