"This is not an exit."

Rating: 9/10 (23 September 2019)

In New York, Patrick Bateman (Christian Bale) is a wealthy, young and handsome yuppie executive who is exceedingly vapid and vain, professes socially attractive beliefs that he doesn't believe in, generally dislikes his peers, is generally disliked by his peers, is regarded as lazy and a waste by those outside his social circle, dates an equally vapid and vain woman, and cheats on her with his peers' spouses (who are, of course, as vapid and vain as they are.) Patrick belongs to a subculture of wealthy, young and handsome yuppie executives, who are exceedingly vapid and vain, profess socially attractive beliefs that they don't believe in, generally dislike their peers, are generally disliked by their peers, are regarded as lazy and as wastes by those outside their social circle, date equally vapid and vain women, and cheat on them with their peers' spouses (who are, of course, as vapid and vain as they are.) They are all the same, so much so that they call each other by the wrong name. These wasters go to New York's finest clubs and restaurants every night, dabbling in expensive clothing, food, hair product, and cocaine. They discuss music and fashion advice. They waste away the hard earned fortunes of their parents without actually doing much work themselves. Nevertheless, they are all aware of one thing; they're better than you. Patrick however, is slightly different, and markets himself in a particular way. First of all he may be aware of how superficial and ridiculous this subculture is (though this does not change his participation in it.) And secondly, he may or may not be a serial killer. Perhaps desperate to find individuality in a world lacking it or perhaps severely ill, Patrick makes himself different from those around him by killing people. Anybody. Coworkers (especially if they make him insecure), the homeless, women off the street, security guards, anyone. Sometimes the motive is clear. Other times it's completely random. The movie and novel are told from his perspective so it's completely possible that he's imaging all of this and that it's not actually happening. The movie sometimes doesn't follow its own logic but this is all part of the appeal. I've heard people claim American Psycho to be a horror film. Certainly it has those kinds of elements but I'd call it more of a dark comedy. It has a dark, satirical comic edge to it. It's not for the faint of heart but generally speaking it's one to watch.