American-psycho

, a 27-year-old investment banker at Pierce & Pierce who lives a double life as a serial killer. Primary Conflict:

“The book is not about a serial killer. It is about the serial killer that lives within the American dream.” — Bret Easton Ellis (interview) american-psycho

The film’s use of 80s pop music is legendary. Unlike a typical horror score, American Psycho uses the music of the decade as a trigger for violence. , a 27-year-old investment banker at Pierce &

In the pantheon of controversial cinema, few films have managed to be simultaneously reviled, misunderstood, and eventually canonized as a masterpiece quite like American Psycho . Based on Bret Easton Ellis’s 1991 novel of the same name—a book so graphic that it was dropped by its original publisher—the 2000 film adaptation starring Christian Bale has transcended its status as a mere horror flick to become a defining cultural artifact. Unlike a typical horror score, American Psycho uses

Yet, Bateman is a cipher. In a famous scene in both the book and the film, a character mistakes him for a colleague named Marcus Halberstram. Bateman realizes that he is interchangeable. His identity is so fluid, so defined by external labels (his suit, his glasses, his business card), that he ceases to exist as a person. He famously admits in the opening narration, "There is an idea of a Patrick Bateman... I simply am not there."

Manhattan, New York City, during the late 1980s Wall Street boom. Protagonist: Patrick Bateman

So, what drives someone like Patrick Bateman to commit such heinous crimes? The film provides no clear answers, but it does offer some insights into the psychology of a psychopath. Bateman's lack of empathy, his inability to form meaningful relationships, and his superficial sense of self are all characteristic of psychopathic personality disorder.