American Psycho - S14 E113
From Shoot The Hostage by Shoot The Hostage Podcast
April 13, 2026 · 1h 17m · Episode 157
About this episode
The episode discusses the misunderstood nature of Mary Harron's American Psycho, exploring its themes of consumerism and satire while analyzing performances and cultural implications.
Welcome to the seventh stop on our tour of Identity movies, where we’re discussing the bone-white brilliance of Mary Harron’s American Psycho (2000). In this episode, we get into why this is one of the most misunderstood movies in cinema history. While certain corners of the manosphere, incels and the red pill community treat Patrick Bateman like a looksmaxxing icon, we’re here to remind the dweebs that they’re the butt of the joke. It’s consumerist satire so brazen that it literally starts with blood-red raspberry sauce, yet people still manage to miss the point. We explore the essential feminist touch that director Mary Harron and writer Guinevere Turner brought to the production, turning Bret Easton Ellis’s controversial source material into a sharp psychological horror comedy. We also discuss how Christian Bale delivered a performance for the ages, partly by channelling the unhinged energy of Nicolas Cage in Vampire’s Kiss (a film we’ve previously covered). Expect the usual Shoot the Hostage nonsense as we dog pile Jared Leto once again, try to understand why Justin Theroux’s dancing lives rent free in Dan’s middle-aged memory, and debate whether the potential Luca Guadagnino…
People in this episode
Host: Shoot The Hostage Podcast
Topics covered
- Identity movies
- Consumerist satire
- Psychological horror comedy
- Feminist perspective
- Film performance analysis
- Cultural commentary
Keywords
- American Psycho
- Mary Harron
- Patrick Bateman
- Christian Bale
- film analysis
- satire
- horror comedy
- Jared Leto
- Nicolas Cage
Mentioned in this episode
Books & works: American Psycho, Vampire’s Kiss
More episodes of Shoot The Hostage
- Lost Highway - S15 E118 · June 8, 2026 · 1h 25m
- Picnic at Hanging Rock (1975) - S15 E117 · June 1, 2026 · 1h 17m
- Messiah of Evil - S15 E116 · May 25, 2026 · 1h 20m
- Triangle (2009) - S15 E115 · May 18, 2026 · 1h 12m
- Bonus : The Beekeeper · May 11, 2026 · 21 min
- Best of Identity Movies · May 4, 2026 · 1h 0m
Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the Shoot The Hostage podcast page.