Rent American Psycho (2000)

A masterpiece with the best Christian Bale performance ever - American Psycho review by Timmy B

I adore this film. Love it. Love everything about it. It is straight faced silliness, craziness and completely perfect satire all in one.

The direction, script, performances, cinematography and soundtrack flawless. It also has a roll call of now-famous actors who are brilliant.

Mary Harron, who directs and co-wrote the script, is perfection. Not one thing doesn't work, not one element not perfect.

And at the centre of it all is Christian Bale. His commitment to the role is legendary, including his months long, 6 day-a-week hours long gym sessions. But this is so much more than just what he looks like. The whole character of Bateman and his complete vanity are fascinating and horrifying.

Rent this film, book a reservation at Dorsia and stick Huey Lewis and the News on your stereo, then sit back and revel in this masterpiece of film and acting.

I have to return some video tapes - American Psycho review by HW

A blackly comic and subtly horrific adaptation of Bret Easton Ellis’s satire of 1980s excess. Surely the greatest performance of Christian Bale’s career, as a literal wolf of Wall Street whose misogyny runs to more savage extremes than his colleagues and whose violent rage could be awakened by mere jealousy of a colleague’s business card or his continuous inability to get a reservation at the most fashionable restaurant.  

Business Cards and Bloody Intentions - American Psycho review by griggs

Some adaptations follow the book word for word. This one sharpens it, dresses it in Valentino, and gives it a wicked smirk. Mary Harron takes Bret Easton Ellis’ American Psycho—a nasty satire soaked in blood and nihilism—and reshapes it into something slyer, smarter, and, somehow, funnier.

Christian Bale is mesmerising as Patrick Bateman: a man so obsessed with appearances that he’s not sure there’s anything underneath. His morning routine is delivered like scripture, his murders like business meetings gone slightly off-script. But Harron’s real trick is not the gore—it’s the tone.

This isn’t a horror film. It’s a pitch-black comedy about identity, capitalism, and men who care more about watermark quality than human life. The film doesn’t excuse Bateman, but it does expose the vacuum around him. Everyone’s pretending. He’s just worse at hiding the mess.

A woman directing American Psycho turns out to be the film’s masterstroke. It’s not just about a man’s descent—it’s about what he was never built to feel in the first place.