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31 for 31 Part 16: American Psycho
A send up on yuppie culture and a look into a sick mind
Patrick Bateman (Christian Bale) is a successful Wall Street businessman living a high life in New York. He has the ideal life with a beautiful fiancee, designer clothes, and a luxury apartment. However, Patrick has a dark secret. He is a serial killer.
Patrick narrates his daily routine and obsessions with designer clothes and pop culture. He also has an inferiority complex and constantly conflicts with his co-workers in being the best and trying to fit in. All of this is a facade to hide the fact that he is a sadistic killer.
We see Patrick terrorizing prostitutes, homeless people, and even his co-workers. When he kills rival Paul Allen (Jared Leto), he discovers that private investigator Donald Kimball (Willem Defoe) is trying to discover what happened.
In the end, the audience is left questioning whether what they witnessed in the film was real or if it was all in Patrick’s head.
The film was controversial upon its release for its violence and depictions of sexual violence. The author of the book the film was based on, Bret Easton Elis, stated that it was a movie that didn’t need to be made. Much of the book’s violence was toned down or removed from the film adaptation.
Still, it has become a cult classic in the thirty-plus years since its release. Bale plays Bateman as an unsettling yet charming figure. The film also sprinkles in some dark humor, allowing the audience to breathe after some more horrific scenes.