A brave, blunt, desperate social satire

Rating: 10/10 (23 February 2003)

I was compelled to rent this film by the other comments I read here, generally describing it as a brilliant satire. A very dark satire indeed. This, by the way, is literally verbalized in the main character's last lines something in the regard of: I am unable to sympathize, I only want to inflict pain on others; Expressing my pain does not make me feel any better, hence I see no hope for our world. We are witness to the development in the character - an entirely soulless entity, a killing machine, the very extremes of his behaviour leading him to some type of catharsis. The catharsis, however, does not bring relief - he is bound to agonize forever, finding himself in a completely dehumanized environment. A glimpse of hope is still possible to catch through the only openly humane character of Jean, to whom our hero attempts to reach out in his utter agony (ironically, Jean is the only one he held back from killing). "American Psycho" is a brave, blunt, desperate social satire; the last warning signal there could be. It is so shocking, it is easy for the viewer with dull senses to see it as "pointless".