American Psycho ending explained (spoilers)

[discussimdb]

In order to understand the final scene of American Psycho, it's key to remember the details of the sequence leading up to it -- and it all begins with a rather innocuous act: Patrick Bateman taking a trip to the ATM. This attempt to withdraw cash, however, winds up going in quite a different direction than when most people do it. The banking software commands our protagonist to feed it a stray cat. The lead character doesn't have much of a problem with this idea, and there just so happens to be a kitten nearby -- but before Bateman can shoot the animal and shove it in the cash dispenser, he gets interrupted. Unfortunately, this interruption comes in the form of an understandably freaked out woman, who winds up becoming Bateman's first victim of the night.

This killing doesn't go unnoticed, and immediately Bateman finds himself in first a chase, and then a shootout with the cops. Though he's armed with just a pistol, and is stuck in an open alley way, he is able to actually kill at least two police officers, and even blow up one of the squad cars. This even strikes the titular character as odd, as he actually stares at his gun in disbelief. But this is only just the beginning of his psychotic and violent night.

Running around without direction, he enters an office building, and while it's not Pierce & Pierce, the security guard on duty still calls out to him with recognition -- referring to Bateman as "Mr. Smith." Presumably not to leave witnesses, the protagonist shoots and kills the guard, and does the same to a janitor on his way out through a revolving door. He then finds his way to Pierce & Pierce -- which is in a literally identical building -- and makes his way up to his office.

As he hides under his desk from helicopter search lights, Bateman makes a call to his lawyer, Harold (Stephen Bogaert) to make his confession. Sobbing and speaking to an answering machine, he admits to every monstrous act he's done -- some of which we've seen in the movie, some of which we haven't. He says that he has killed anywhere between 20 and 40 people, including Paul Allen (Jared Leto), and doesn't think he can get away with it anymore. He finishes the call telling his lawyer where he can meet him tomorrow.

It is after this point when everything we understood to be true in American Psychobegins to unravel. The body parts that Bateman has been storing in Paul Allen's apartment are gone, and a realtor explains that nobody named Paul Allen actually lived there. Jean (Chloe Sevigny) finds a notebook that seem to be reflections of her boss' psychosis, and we are suddenly left to wonder if it's all just his fantasy. The real bombshell, though, is dropped as Bateman makes his way to the bar to meet with his lawyer.

Like just about everyone else in the film, Harold begins by confusing Bateman for somebody else, and is fully convinced that the message he was left was just a prank - with the punchline being the idea of a dork like Patrick Bateman being a serial killer. The crazy lead character tries to explain that his confession was real, but the lawyer refutes his claims about Paul Allen as an impossibility -- saying that he just saw Allen a few days before in London. Bateman is left reeling from this revelation, questioning everything he believes that he has done, and processing his deep inner pain.

Potential Explanation
There is little question that Patrick Bateman is an absolute lunatic, but the big question at the end of American Psycho is whether he is a serial killer, or just a sadist with extreme delusions and a vivid imagination. It is our stance that Bateman does actually murder many people over the course of the movie, but there is one exception: he didn't actually kill Paul Allen.

Really, this conclusion can be drawn just by taking all of the evidence the film presents at face value. There's not only Harold's claim about having just seen Paul Allen in London, and the murder-free apartment, but there is also the investigation headed up by Detective Donald Kimball (Willem Dafoe). For a good portion of the movie it looks like Bateman is just on the verge of getting caught for Allen's murder, but then Kimball drops the case after finding that the protagonist has an alibi. How did this happen? Because Bateman never killed Allen, and instead just imagined the whole thing.

It's firmly established throughout the film that American Psycho's lead character has an obsession and extreme hatred of Paul Allen, but it's that passion that could easily explain how everything involving Allen's murder just played out in Bateman's head. What we see play out with the newspaper, the raincoat, and the axe is merely an extremely vivid false reality. It even makes sense that Bateman could have heard about Allen taking a trip to London, and incorporated it into the fantasy via the outgoing answer machine message that he leaves.

Admittedly, there is also some ambiguity to the other deaths as well, and while I do believe that he has killed a good number of people (such as the homeless man played by Reg E. Cathey and the prostitutes), it's interesting to note that the movie also provides viewers with a good deal of doubt regarding the extent of Bateman's crimes. The reason why the entire third act is so key to understanding the ending of American Psycho is because it establishes that we are seeing the world through the protagonist's eyes, and nothing is to be trusted. An ATM doesn't actually flash the message "Feed Me A Stray Cat," and Bateman's run from the cops is certainly heightened to the point where you begin to question even the smallest details of the reality. Again, this is just his psychotic imagination flaring up. The extent to which this idea can be applied to the rest of the film is up to individual viewers, but it can swing both ways.

Ultimately, the brilliance in American Psycho's ending isn't the question whether or not Patrick Bateman killed zero people, just a few homeless individuals, or everyone he lists in his answering machine message (minus Paul Allen). The more significant take away is meant to be present in the satire that comes in Bateman admitting his horrific crimes and nobody taking him seriously. He not only lives in an entirely shallow existence where "inside doesn't matter," but he has been driven to the point where he has become a mystery even unto himself, and only really knows that he wants to inflict his inner pain on others. Tragic as it is to say, the number of people he may or may not have murdered is inconsequential -- like the film's existence as Bateman's confession.

[mai]

Bateman confesses the murders to his friend on an answer machine, then at the end meets him at a gathering. The friend doesnt believe any of his confession as someone said theyd seen Paul in a restaurant. Making the point that theyre all so superficial that no-one really knows or cares who anyone is. Or its all in his mind...This is not an exit on the door behind Bateman shows he stands as a symbol. Bateman is a satire on American Values. He is victimised by the yuppie era.