American Psycho Ending Explained
The ending of American Psycho leaves everyone scratching their heads. Did Patrick Bateman, the slick Wall Street guy played by Christian Bale, really chop up his victims with an axe and a chainsaw? Or was it all in his twisted head? The movie, directed by Mary Harron and based on Bret Easton Ellis’s novel, never gives a straight answer on purpose. It mixes horror with dark laughs to poke fun at greedy 1980s yuppies obsessed with money, suits, and status.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Psycho_(film)https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WT6IrjuGBJ8
Bateman starts as this perfect clone of his coworkers. They all look the same, talk about restaurants and business cards the same way, and barely notice each other. He kills Paul Allen, a rival, in a bloody scene with Huey Lewis music blasting. He hides the body and even uses Allen’s apartment to throw people off. Later, cops chase him after he goes on a wild rampage, shooting people and blowing up a car. He hides in his office and leaves a frantic voicemail for his lawyer, confessing to dozens of murders, including Allen and some prostitutes.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Psycho_(film)https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qrlMLp-KFeo
But then things get weird. His lawyer calls back and says he had lunch with Paul Allen recently in London. The lawyer laughs off the confession as a sick joke from some other guy named Bateman. Bateman checks Allen’s old apartment, and it’s spotless, up for rent like nothing happened. No blood, no body. Earlier clues pile up too. A detective tells Bateman people saw Allen after the murder night. His secretary Jean almost sees a head in the fridge but runs away when he acts creepy, and he lets her go with a warning like he feels a spark of regret.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Psycho_(film)https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WT6IrjuGBJ8https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qrlMLp-KFeo
This points to Bateman being an unreliable storyteller. His mind cracks under the boredom of his empty life. He craves to stand out in a world of identical rich guys, so he dreams up murders as his big rebellion. The ATM even flashes “feed me a stray cat,” like a hallucination pushing him over the edge. Nobody listens to his pain or confessions because they are too wrapped up in their own shallow worlds. Director Harron made it ambiguous to show how society ignores real monsters hiding in plain sight.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NzQMQOs_28Ahttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WT6IrjuGBJ8https://www.avclub.com/american-psycho-director-mary-harron-we-ve-never-real-1842839329
Some say the kills happened for real, and the elite just cover it up because Bateman fits right in. His lawyer brushes it off without a second thought. But the empty apartment and sightings of “dead” people lean toward fantasy. In the book, it’s even more over-the-top with wild scenes that scream imagination.https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/28676. American_Psycho Bateman ends with his famous line about constant pain and wanting to spread it. No one cares. That is the real horror.
Sources
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qrlMLp-KFeo
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Psycho_(film)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WT6IrjuGBJ8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NzQMQOs_28A
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/28676. American_Psycho
https://www.avclub.com/american-psycho-director-mary-harron-we-ve-never-real-1842839329
