Throughout the film, Patrick Batemen's deranged thoughts and actions only get weirder and weirder until eventually reaching a true breaking point. But one theory believes that the mass murderer only killed one person, leaving his body count nothing more than a hallucination.
Bateman often expresses doubts regarding his own sanity and he has periodic attacks of psychosis, during which he hallucinates. It is left open to reader interpretation whether Bateman actually commits the crimes he describes, or whether he is merely hallucinating them; he is, therefore, an unreliable narrator.
The bottom line: while it's clear some things that happen in the film are in Bateman's head (like the Feed Me a Stray Cat scene), the murders actually happened. I personally prefer that interpretation because I feel like making the entire movie a figment of Bateman's imagination lets him off the hook.
This, combined with sex, violence, drugs, and other desires of the id, is how Bateman enacts his sociopathic violence in a superficial world. Bateman's episodes of schizophrenia also shows clear signs on how he copes with being an affluent person living in a superficial world, fashioned on consumerism.
Side 1 is how Patrick sees himself and believes how the rest of the world sees him. He thinks he's the greatest person to ever grace the planet and is capable of anything he wants from a wild threesome (or 2) to being able to write a book about popular music.
American Psycho Ending Explained: What Really Happened?
What did Patrick Bateman realize?
As the camera slowly zooms into Patrick's eyes, Patrick delivers his chilling final monologue as a voiceover in which he realizes that his crimes have gone unpunished and his confession has meant nothing.
In American Psycho (2000) Willem Dafoe (Detective Kimball) acted each meeting with Bateman 3 ways in 3 different takes: 1. He knew Bateman was the killer, 2. He only suspected Bateman was the killer, 3. He did not suspect Bateman.
TL;DR: Patrick Bateman has a mental disorder caused by lifelong conflict-of-interests with his father. He doesn't actually kill anyone in the film; all the murders take place in his sleep, but they're vivid enough dreams that he can't separate them from reality.
The ambiguous ending of American Psycho is intentional, with director Mary Harron and writer Guinevere Turner confirming that Bateman is indeed a serial killer, but many viewers misunderstand it as an "it was all a dream" trope.
In Bret Easton Ellis' American Psycho, the protagonist, Patrick Bateman, is apparently simply a psychopath. However, Bateman can be diagnosed with other mental illnesses such as Asperger's syndrome, obsessive-compulsive disorder, schizophrenia, narcissism, and antisocial personality disorder.
This is partly because, for all of Willem Dafoe's scenes as Detective Kimball, director Mary Harron had him act three different ways. He's unaware that Patrick killed Paul. He's suspicious of Patrick and wants to know more.
Patrick Bateman does not exist physically but rather is the narrative occupying the minds of all the characters we see and this is alluded to numerous times. The opening dialog itself states "I simply am not there" which was timed so it's said when he peels off the mask.
Whose head is in Patrick Bateman's fridge? The woman who he picked up in the previous scene at the club with Bryce, where he did the cocaine in the back room.
It's made clear there is no "top" to Bateman. There is only becoming more successful than the previous day. Therefore, Bateman would be a Sigma in that regard. In American Psycho's first act, Bateman makes it known to his fiancée that he wishes to conform to society as best he can, unlike his other roles.
The Novel is very clear that Patrick Bateman is a killer. The theme of the novel is basically “Patrick doesn't increasingly crazy things for attention and no one cares and he gets away with it because he's a White straight rich guy.” The Film introduces ambiguity into it.
At Bateman's apartment Patrick is about to kill Jean but he stops himself. Jean asks if Bateman want her to leave, he says yes because he can't control himself and might hurt Jean. After Bateman's murder spree of Elizabeth, "Christie", and some townsfolks, Jean looks around his office and finds his journal.
American Psycho ends with Patrick staring into the camera, with his voiceover confessing, “There are no more barriers to cross. All I have in common with the uncontrollable and the insane, the vicious and the evil, all the mayhem I have caused and my utter indifference toward it I have now surpassed.
What is the deeper meaning behind American Psycho?
American Psycho explores the inherent violence of corporate greed, using Patrick Bateman's sadistic acts as a metaphor for the callousness of Wall Street. The film's ambiguous ending signifies Bateman's moral awakening, as he tries to hold himself accountable for his actions while those around him remain indifferent.
Answer and Explanation: Many of the events in American Psycho take place entirely inside of Patrick Bateman's imagination. His crimes are all daydreams created by Bateman's twisted mind for his own entertainment.
He displays a high functioning form of Asperger's syndrome, yet there are still symptoms present in Bateman of which even the highest functioning people with Asperger's syndrome cannot rid themselves. One of the key symptoms in Asperger's syndrome is the need for strict routine.
'Feed Me A Stray Cat' Scene | American Psycho - YouTube. Patrick Bateman (Christian Bale) attempts to murder a cat after following the instructions of an ATM, which leads to more killings.
For instance, in the Huey Lewis monologue, he says he likes "Hip to be Square" because it's about "the pleasures of conformity, and the importance of trends." It's pretty apparent throughout the movie that Patrick is all about conformity, like when he tells Evelyn he keeps working at Pierce & Pierce because he wants to ...
The casting process can be unpredictable, and Christian Bale's journey as Patrick Bateman in American Psycho had its twists and turns. Initially replaced when Leonardo DiCaprio was considered for the role, Bale eventually reclaimed the part and delivered a memorable performance as the iconic character.
Christie's body at the bottom of the stairs. Patrick chases her through the apartment with a chainsaw, and, as she runs downstairs, Patrick drops the chainsaw down the stairwell, which lands perfectly on top of her as she reaches the bottom of the stairs.
Although Manhattan is a real place, American Psycho is a work of fiction and imaginary locations in the city are part of the story. An imaginary space is a space that is figurative, like a city in a book. To say that a space is imaginary is not to deny its relation to reality.
