American Psycho is a Study of a Crazed Serial Killer…Or is It?

American Psycho is a movie I always find myself going back to. This film intrigues me, and I still wonder just what the hell really happened with the ending to this film.

The story follows a guy named Patrick Bateman, a businessman who is a bit of an asshole, and believes that his ego is what’s important when it comes to associating with his co-workers or others.

While Patrick is already an unlikable character, what makes his character really stand out is how charming he is.

And how utterly insane he actually is.

Patrick Bateman is revealed to be a serial killer.

Bateman is ruthless when it comes to every single kill in the film.

He will use any weapon, in order to satisfy his dark urges whenever he gets in the mood to murder. He even kills a co-worker he was jealous of, and actually gets away with his murder. He is an evil bastard that utterly delights in committing murders, and he keeps getting away with his kills every single time.

After multiple murders throughout the film, Bateman finally breaks down, and calls his lawyer to confess to his crimes.

Then at the ending of the film when he runs into his lawyer, he comes to the conclusion of something else…something he wasn’t expecting to hear.

Was everything actually in Patrick Bateman’s head?

This theory is always plaguing my mind whenever I watch this film. I have seen this movie about 6 times at this point, and I still wonder if everything was real or not.

When Patrick talks to his lawyer in person, he learns that his lawyer possibly had dinner with the co-worker he murdered twice in the same week. This doesn’t make a lick of sense.

How the hell was his co-worker still alive?

Well, there could be one explanation for that. Throughout the entire film, everyone keeps mistaking each other for someone else. I wonder if maybe the lawyer thought he had dinner with Bateman’s co-worker, but we never actually learn the full truth behind this claim.

Bateman is left freaking out, and he straight up admits in his head that his confession will mean nothing. Because he is simply not there.

I wonder if perhaps Bateman is aware that everything happened in his head, or if something far more sinister is taking place among this group of elite people.

People believe that the rich people around Bateman are all secretly sick monsters, each of them covering up for each other. There is actually one point in the film where Bateman goes back to his co - workers apartment, only to find that the apartment is squeaky clean of all evidence, and is now on the market. A woman states that she has no idea what Bateman is talking about, and he is left utterly confused.

A lot of people think that she had covered up for Bateman, fully aware that multiple people in the elite group are hiding dark secrets like Bateman. People even think that the lawyer knew that Bateman did kill his co - worker, and even he was covering up for Bateman, not wanting him to go crazy and confess his crimes. Patrick does mention briefly that his father owns the company, so who's to say that his own dad is aware of his crimes?

Maybe he is terrified of getting found out, and he wants to protect his image, by covering up for his son?

I could honestly talk about this film all day. The theories to this film are endless, and man, it always has me thinking about what actually did take place with Patrick Bateman's character!

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Thank you for reading!

Emy Quinn