Sightlines · reception
How American Psycho was received
2000 · Mary Harron · American Psycho on Sightlines
The arc
Divisive on release in 2000 — it premiered at Sundance to mixed, uneasy reviews and controversy inherited from the novel — but it's since been reappraised as one of the sharpest satires of its era and the film that made Christian Bale a star.
What’s debated
The eternal debate: legions of fans idolize Patrick Bateman as an aspirational 'sigma male,' which is exactly the misreading Mary Harron's satire was skewering — plus endless arguments over what the ending actually means.
Its footprint
An all-time meme machine: the business card scene, the Huey Lewis monologue, 'I have to return some videotapes,' and Bale's skincare-routine face are permanent fixtures of internet culture.
Where it stands
A modern cult classic and Letterboxd staple — the rare studio-era satire that keeps climbing the canon as each new generation discovers (and re-litigates) it.
Did you know? Lionsgate briefly replaced Christian Bale with Leonardo DiCaprio — Mary Harron walked away rather than accept the change, and when DiCaprio left for The Beach, she returned with Bale, whom she'd insisted on all along.