American Psycho’s ending explained little and leaves a lot to the viewer’s imagination, so how many victims (if any) did Patrick Bateman actually kill, how much of the movie takes place in his unhinged mind, and what was the point? Like the infamous novel it’s based on, the American Psycho ending explained little and makes a point of leaving its events ambiguous during the discomfiting, blackly comic ending, demystifying none of its strange and seemingly contradictory occurrences; and American Psycho‘s meaning is no less elusive. Starring a young Christian Bale, American Psycho sees a young Wall Street banker engage in increasingly shocking, grotesque misdeeds throughout the movie while still attending his day job and finding time for social events.
By the midpoint of American Psycho, Bateman has begun attracting attention, which leads to Jared Leto’s horror movie appearance as Paul Allen ending with an ax through his skull. Bateman begins committing more and more outrageous crimes, culminating in the bloody chainsaw slaughter of two women in an apartment complex and eventually a full-blown shooting spree. As the American Psycho ending explained Bateman’s crimes, he finally confesses his crimes to his lawyer (twice — once via voicemail, and once in person), only for the cold character to inform him Paul Allen is still alive and (seemingly) the American Psycho ending explained everything may (or may not have been) in Bateman’s head.
What Happens In American Psycho’s Ending
Though undoubtedly one of the most confusing finales put to screen, The American Psycho ending explained that the specific timeline of events is crucial to understanding what happened. When Bateman awakens from his crime spree and subsequent confession, he immediately goes to Paul Allen’s (Jared Leto) apartment to clean up the remains he left there. However, Bateman instead finds no remains and a cold realtor who informs him that no “Paul Allen” owns the apartment in question, before asking him to leave, as the American Psycho ending explained.
Bateman meets his co-workers for lunch and walks into his lawyer, who mistakes him for someone else and assumes the voicemail was a joke poking fun at Bateman. The lawyer calls Bateman too “square” to have committed the atrocities in question, and when Bateman reiterates his crimes, the lawyer leaves the conversation in discomfort, annoyed by the joke going too far. Since Paul Allen’s body isn’t in the apartment and police seem to be leaving him alone, the American Psycho ending explained that Bateman returns to his conversing colleagues — and it is in their dialogue that the key to understanding the American Psycho ending is hidden.
American Psycho’s Ending Explained By The Filmmakers
The American Psycho director Mary Harron explained the ending as slightly fumbled — it’s not meant to be the case that all of this happened in Patrick Bateman’s head. Both she, and co-writer Guinevere Turner, have stated that the nature of the movie’s ambiguous ending is far too nebulous- basically confirming that the American Psycho ending explained that Patrick Bateman is, in fact, a serial killer. What Harron finds the most frustrating is that many audience members believe the ending is the classic “it was all a dream” trope.
When in fact, both filmmakers agree that the ending did happen in real life, and Batman actor Christian Bale’s Bateman won’t be prosecuted for his crimes based on his affluence and high-society station. In an interview with Charlie Rose, Mary Harron states that she wished to make the ending ambiguous as a direct homage to the book, never intending people to believe that the American Psycho ending explained Bateman was never a killer at all. Harron stated, “One thing I think is a failure on my part is people keep coming out of the film thinking that it’s all a dream, and I never intended that. All I wanted was to be ambiguous in the way that the book was. I think it’s a failure of mine in the final scene because I just got the emphasis wrong.“
Writer and The L Word actress Guinevere Turner has also been adamant that the American Psycho ending explained that Bateman was the killer all along. While it’s true that Patrick is experiencing delusions and hallucinations, it doesn’t mean that the murders are in his head. Turner blames the muddiness of the ending on the dichotomy between the fantasy world that Bateman is currently living in and the reality of the murderous situation at hand.
In the Blu-Ray/DVD commentary (IMDb) Turner has a lot to say regarding the protagonist’s mental deterioration and how it explains the American Psycho ending as a whole. “What starts to happen as the movie progresses is that what you’re seeing is what’s going on in his head. So when he shoots a car and it explodes, even he for a second is like “Huh?” because even he is starting to believe that his perception of reality cannot be right.” Kevin Smith’s Dogma actress also goes on to talk about the fantasy world that Patrick is living in, stating that his perception of reality may be similar to what’s going on but not entirely accurate. These things include the murders being messier and the hookers being “less hot.”
Did Patrick Bateman Really Kill Paul Allen?
Harron and Ellis have both said that the question of whether Patrick killed Jared Leto’s Paul Allen is intentionally left ambiguous, as both possibilities reinforce American Psycho‘s meaning. The American Psycho ending explained that Patrick could have killed a co-worker and no one around him would have noticed or cared because he was living in the amoral, high-powered environs of Wall Street.
In his circles, wearing the wrong outfit was a bigger misstep than costing millions of homeowners their life savings, meaning Bateman and the viewer will never know for certain whether he killed a colleague since inhumane acts mean that little to his co-workers and friends. According to the American Psycho ending explained, it was clear when Paul mistook Patrick for Marcus Halberstram that he was planning to kill him, reinforcing the themes of projected affluence and identity.
Jared Leto’s American Psycho Reactions Were Genuine
Jared Leto’s infamous American Psycho scene was short, but a notable performance from the actor. It also wasn’t 100% acting. Jared Leto’s character sees Paul Allen sitting on the couch in Bateman’s apartment, when Bateman turns on “Hip to be Square” by Huey Lewis and the News and discusses the artistic integrity of the song. Bateman then dons a plastic raincoat and shouts, “Hey Paul!” which results in Paul Allen turning around and looking in shock as Bateman comes at him full force with an ax. According to director Mary Harron, the look of complete shock on Jared Leto’s face in the scene was completely real.
Mary Harron revealed to EW that when shooting American Psycho, the Paul Allen ax murder scene was rehearsed without Jared Leto’s knowledge. Christian Bale reportedly held back until the scene was shot in earnest so that when Leto turns to see Bale running at him with an ax, he is genuinely alarmed. The American Psycho Jared Leto moment was kept in the final cut, and Harron had this to say about the scene, “Christian held back his performance until then so that it would be a real surprise. When he screams ‘Hey Paul’ and Jared turns around and sees Christian running towards him with the axe, he looks genuinely shocked.” It’s a small yet interesting bit of American Psycho trivia.
How Much Of American Psycho Is Real?
Many viewers read the M. Night Shyamalan-style twist in American Psycho’s ending as a straightforward “it’s all in the unreliable narrator’s head” trope, and Harron has expressed frustration over how common this reading of the movie adaptation is, as the American Psycho ending explained it is intended to be unclear. However, Bateman’s murder of an unfortunate vagrant is entirely believable, and even his very public killing of two prostitutes is the sort of crime that people in positions of power have been able to erase from existence, which heavily plays into the American Psycho meaning. The killing of his co-worker is more likely to be an imaginary exploit since Patrick Bateman would likely be ejected from high society circles if he kept killing colleagues. However, even that’s not quite true on a metaphorical level.
Why Nobody Takes Patrick Bateman’s Confessions Seriously
Backstabbing, headhunting, poaching, and other colorful dysphemisms are frequently used to illustrate the duplicitous, amoral corporate culture of finance. Patrick Bateman’s “killing” of Jared Leto’s Allen in the American Psycho ending explained that it could be “real” since he ruined the career, livelihood, or life of a rival, and only Bateman’s conscience was clear enough to see this as a monstrous act, with everyone around him writing it off as just good business.
The “madness” of Bateman is rooted in Bale’s character attempting to literalize the awfulness of what he does for a living. As such, his co-workers fastidiously ignore this, as if they too started to see the amoral elements of Wall Street, they would reconsider their entire life’s choices. All of this lends itself to American Psycho‘s meaning tackles the obscenely wealthy facing no real consequences for their actions.
It Was All In Patrick’s Head – Theories Explained
While director Mary Harron has adamantly refused that the American Psycho ending explained it is all in Patrick Bateman’s head, there’s enough ambiguity behind the events of the story to suggest otherwise. The most obvious indication of this is the fact that Paul Allen’s body was nowhere to be found, and the apartment was spotless upon Patrick’s arrival. Secondly, Willem Dafoe’s Donald Kimball, though purposefully suspicious throughout the course of the movie, ultimately isn’t able to tie Christian Bale’s Patrick to any of the murders.
This is surprising, considering at the end his murders were so brazen that he was chasing sex workers while naked and wielding a chainsaw. Thirdly, when Patrick calls his lawyer and confesses to all of his horrific crimes the lawyer laughs him off. It could simply be that his lawyer found the idea impossible, but that’s likely not the case. Finally, out of all the people Patrick murdered, not a single body is found or seen again after the deed has been done. It’s true that the unreliable narrator trope does cheapen American Psycho‘s meaning. However, the film is so ambiguous that it’s impossible not to speculate.
What American Psycho Really Means
American Psycho’s meaning can be found in a conversation during the movie’s closing scene. The American Psycho ending explained that Bateman returns from the confounding confrontation with his lawyer to find his co-workers watching Ronald Reagan speak on television, commenting on the Iran Contra affair. Bateman’s co-worker (played by The Mosquito Coast‘s Justin Theroux) notes that Reagan presents himself as “a harmless old codger, but inside…” only for Bateman’s internal monologue to note that what’s inside doesn’t matter.
Reagan’s positive public perception saw him maintain popularity despite ignoring the AIDS crisis, the Iran Contra affair, lobbying scandals, and the income inequality fostered by Reaganomics. The American Psycho ending explained that when Bateman’s co-worker asking him for his take on the president, prompting actor Christian Bale’s Patrick Bateman to respond with a placid “whatever.” This uncaring facade prefigures the intense apathy and nihilism that dominated the pop culture landscape after the optimistic idealism of the ‘80s segued into the grim, cynical hopelessness of the ‘90s.
Both the movie and the book close on this dark idea, one which explains American Psycho‘s meaning by clarifying that which crimes were real doesn’t matter. A person like American Psycho‘s Bateman can, after all, commit untold evil once they maintain a positive public face, and the true extent of their misdeeds may stay forever unknowable because people can’t see what they choose not to believe or care about.
