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A review by phibs
American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis
dark
funny
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Bret Easton Ellis constructs a completely believable world in which characters blindly and vapidly consider their wants first, regardless of circumstance. Characters are made interchangeable, all entirely selfish, two-dimensional yuppies in a grim satire of 1980s Wall Street consumerism.
Although Ellis manages to deftly weave grim comedy throughout, his postmodernist critique remains explicitly crude and vile, leading the reader to question how necessary Ellis’ innumerable graphic depictions of wanton violence against women were to the narrative at large.
Director Mary Harron certainly cherrypicks the best of Ellis’ novel to adapt for cinema, leaving the novel little more than a compendium of desensitised butchery and $300 ceviches.
Although Ellis manages to deftly weave grim comedy throughout, his postmodernist critique remains explicitly crude and vile, leading the reader to question how necessary Ellis’ innumerable graphic depictions of wanton violence against women were to the narrative at large.
Director Mary Harron certainly cherrypicks the best of Ellis’ novel to adapt for cinema, leaving the novel little more than a compendium of desensitised butchery and $300 ceviches.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Child death, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Antisemitism, Islamophobia, Cannibalism, Abortion, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism