Eric hit the nail on the head when he said 'Look at Jared Leto, they look exactly the same'. I read the book, that was a huge part of the story. Everyone being mistaken for someone else cause they all dressed the same/had the same haircut.
Yes! They had the same job on their business cards too. It also accounts for them all getting each other’s names mixed up - it wasn’t that Bateman had different personalities, it was that they genuinely didn’t know or care who they were talking to.
@@allyin15 the choice for making the characters look so much alike wasn’t so much about the characters’ view of each other but more so about the view the author had of those types of men. Rich financial types like investment bankers who were complete narcissist sociopaths living an unfulfilling superficial life with toxic behavior. The choice to make them look alike was as if to say they’re all the same. They’re collectively one character.
Funnily enough, Tom Cruise was Bale's biggest inspiration for the role. He described Cruise as having that dead look behind the eyes when he did interviews and stuff. Also, apparently in the book, Patrick Bateman meets Tom Cruise specifically so the reader doesn't think "is this guy Tom Cruise?"
The real estate lady was covering up the murders to keep property prices high. The way she looked at him and spoke clearly implied she knew full well what happened, what Bateman was, and she protected him for her own gain. She’s the scariest one in the entire film. Bateman was crazy, he didn’t know what the hell was happening. He was in the middle of a psychosis, unable to distinguish fantasy from reality (like the ATM saying “FEED ME A STRAY CAT” and the cop car blowing up) but she knew everything and did what she did anyway.
Is she really the scariest one, Pat was intentionally killing people and knew about it. She just covered it up for her own gain if she really did and its not a theory
@@pricemaxer9736 Pat was out of touch with reality. To the point that you could argue that Patrick had no control or perception of what he was doing. He was not living in reality. The realtor was. And she did what she did with such nonchalance that it’s certain she has done it before. She is by far the scarier of the two. Calculated, apathetic, bored, and uncaring. She was fully in the real world, and still actively hid murders for her benefit. Batemen felt huge remorse, because once he regained his real sense of self, he realized what he had done. He felt horrible, to the point of turning himself in, risking his own life. He’s still dangerous and scary, but that’s because he’s sick. The realtor is scary because she is perfectly sane; that is much worse.
I’ve heard that during the audition process for the lead role, many actors tried to make Patrick come across as suave and likable. They were missing the satire of the book. Then Christian Bale came in and perfectly interpreted what the author was trying to say about people like Patrick. He immediately got the role.
Not a psycho she just wanted to make a sale of an expensive property and having it full of bodies would lower the value. So she was just greedy and didnt care about these dead prostitutes. Which feeds into the theme of the whole movie where the rich asshole neighbors hear a woman screaming for help and do nothing because they are too self absorbed to care, how the other rich assholes dont even bother physically identifying who they are talking to so they dont even know who Paul Allen is. Everyone is so self absorbed.
I believe there’s also a 3rd interpretation based off of the whole Yuppies thing. Where basically people like that were so interchangeable that people around him legit just couldn’t tell the difference between who they were talking to at any given time.
Exactly. Like at the end when Bateman’s lawyer said he just had ‘dinner with Paul Allen ten days ago’. No he didn’t. He probably had dinner with some other wall street yuppie who looks and dresses exactly like Paul Allen, but doesn’t care enough to tell any of them apart.
@@spencercoulter9325 Or the guy Bateman killed was some other interchangeable vice-president of mergers and acquisitions, who Bateman mistook for Paul Allen.
@@brianwin We know Bateman is delusional and sees things that aren't there (e.g., the ATM asking to be fed a cat). It could be anyone's name on that card. Supposing there even _was_ a card. Or he could have confused someone else with Allen _after_ the card scene.
@@mbpoblet I guess it’s up to each person to decide. One of those movies where there’s no one right answer. I’ve always considered the ATM scene to be his snapping point where he goes from crazy to batshit crazy. So personally I believe the business card scene was real and Jared Leto is actually Paul Allen. Plus there were other people there looking at the cards during that scene. I respect your theory though
The scenes in which Detective Kimball and Patrick Bateman interact were all shot in three takes: One where Kimball did not suspect Bateman as the murderer at all, one in which Kimball suspected Bateman but wasn't completely sure, and one where Kimball was sure Bateman was the murderer. These three takes were then spliced together, changing with every shot to the point that there are practically no two consecutive points where the camera is on Kimball that he has the same level of suspicion. The result is that not only is Kimball's feelings during the scene harder to pin down but also makes Kimball seem almost as unstable as Bateman himself is, and making Bateman's nervous shiftiness all the more understandable.
So from what I understand, there are a few instances of "Oh that's Paul Allen" and then someone else goes, "No that's someone else." There's repeated instances of everyone mistaking everyone for someone else. Hell, Paul Allen and Bateman are dressed nearly identical in that card scene
The crew of Blind Wave has really come into their own, commercially and artistically. Your reactions have a clear, crisp sheen of consummate professionalism that really give the videos a big boost.
the scene where he leans over to the hooker in the bathtub, laughs and splashes the water on her Butt ... these are my two favourite seconds in Movies i think. its so insanely weird
Whenever someone from my time at uni gets a new job and posts his business card on FB, it automatically evolves into "New cards ... oh my god, it even has a watermark!"
Especially since it's so arbitrary. Who cares if it has this font or that specific off-white colouring. It's like a merry go round where what is desirable changes by the second
The book is even crazier. It’s all in 1st person except for the end where he goes on a rampage which is told in the 3rd person perspective. And then you have chapters all about Huey Lewis & the News, Phil Collins & Whitney Houston. One of the craziest books I’ve read.
@@the_nikster1 It was really hard to finish reading it. I had no idea it would be even more gruesome than the film adaptation. There's really no way they could've filmed the book as written.
My favorite part is the Huey Lewis scene. Christian Bale talking about the band like he's some kind of infomercial salesman is so bizarre, but wonderful. Same goes with that little dance move when says Hip To Be Square. Apparently, Christian Bale's moonwalking with the axe was improvised. And that whole thing with Paul Allen's blood spraying on only half of Bateman's face was a completely accidental bit of symbolism. Also, Huey Lewis actually did a parody video of that scene with him as Bateman, and Weird Al as Allen. You should check it out sometime.
At the time the movie came out Lewis was not thrilled about his song being associated with that scene for awhile but I'm glad he came around and did that parody video with Weird Al.
Fair play for Lewis taking it on the chin and doing a parody, considering the music chapters in the book are satirizing, with derision, a consumerist loyalty to the most commercial and shallow songs of a shallow era (in mainstream culture). Easton-Ellis was literally saying, what music would a psychopath, or a tasteless yuppie think is deep.
In the book it gets even more jarring. Bateman does these long-winded pseudo-critical think pieces like he's talking about an underappreciated niche artist when he's actually talking about the most mainstream music possible.
His music reviews do come off a bit salesman-like, but, to me, they always sounded like pieces he'd read in a music / pop culture magazine. It would be in keeping with his character to recite passages from other people's music reviews in an attempt to sound hip and knowledgeable. But Patrick is incapable of enjoying things or connecting with music on any kind of emotional level. As always, he's doing these things to keep up with trends and try to fit in. There's no way those are his original thoughts.
The killings (at least most of them) actually happened I believe. The film was meant as a commentary on yuppie culture and the ultra-conservative surge in the 80s (especially on Wall Street) and the dangers of how far that might go. It's about how apathy, narcissism, misogyny and greed coalesces to the point that someone as crazy as Bale's character could fit right in, that he could essentially confess to his actions and none of them care or bat an eye. They're all too focused on their business cards or where they're going to eat. The scene with the realtor I'd always took as her having known that Paul Allen was murdered, but wanting to hide that fact it because it would hurt the space's value. At the end of the day in this world, what's a little death when there's money to be made? Another way to read it is about the struggles of conformity and lack of identity. Bateman's and his colleagues lack any real sense of individuality or personality, conforming to this yuppie culture while trying to find individuality in the most banal things. Even then their expressions of individuality are less about expressing themselves and moreso still about impressing others. At the end of the day they're all just replaceable cogs in the machine. Bateman might as well be Halberstram who might as well be Paul Allen. They're all fake, in the sense of the forward-facing personas they create are just attempts to conform, hiding who they really are. Patrick Bateman wants to be punished for his actions because it makes him different, unique, but he's denied even that because the level of apathy, narcissism, and greed has grown to the point that no one cares about his crimes.
Christian Bale should have got Nominated for an Oscar, what a remarkable performance! He was mesmerising, a terrifying and cynical portrayal of a Psychopath.
Throw It In: There are two scenes that involved improvisation by Bale that was kept in the movie: the jump-rope scene (Bale crossing his arms was improvised) and the Moonwalk Dance Bateman does, so as to hide his axe, shortly before killing Paul Allen (which was one of the only problems the author of the original novel had with the movie). When he kills Paul Allen, the blood splatters across Bale's face- but only half of it, so that from one angle, he looks normal, but when he turns another way, you can see the blood-spattered madman. The blood splatter landing in that way was actually a complete accident and the symbolism was totally unintentional.
Fun Fact about American Psycho: Christian Bale told the director that he could sweat on command. She didn’t believe him at first but then when he did the scene of the guys showing off their business cards he did it and they kept that take. Also I can’t help but laugh my ass off at that scene because of the way Christian Bale says “Oh my god, it even has a watermark” with such absolute seriousness!🤣🤣🤣
I always understood it as all of them from Wallstreet and most associates are self-centred psychos not paying attention to their surroundings, there is a real professional cleanup crew and he sometimes may has hallucinations. He killed many and when someone says there was no such person, wrong names or it doesn't fit the timing it is for an alibi because he can pay for it. Others may also are killing but our main character didn't pay attention so we don't know. This explains the disconnected conversations, vanishing persons, strange behaviour, multiple names and why so much does not add up.
I believe in the book he has a bit of an emotional breakdown when he's cooking the brains. Not because of the horror of the act, but because he thinks he's doing it wrong.
There's a moment right at the end of the dry cleaner scene when Patrick finally able to get away from his friend, and his face IMMEDIATELY changes from happy and affable to stoic and almost deranged the second he rushes away from the door. The fact he wasn't even nominated for an Oscar for this is wild.
I first saw this movie in a video game. Playing second life with my girlfriend one night she took me to the "movies". This little map that had a theater and all that crap, and a functioning screen that had the movie on a play loop. I had never heard of the film before then, and it ended up one of my favorite movies. Something about seeing it on a movie theater screen that was simulated on my monitor, and then being able to visit a player made map themed around the movie and the last act, just stuck with me as it made the ending that much more impactful.
Random fun fact: Willam Dafoe's scenes wererecorded in three different ways - one take where his character had no suspicions of Bateman, one where he was suspicious of Bateman, and one where he knew Bateman was involved.
At least some of the killings were real and I believe they were covered up by the real estate lady to keep the real estate value down on the property. The way she interacted with Bateman makes me believe there's a strong possibility she covered up other murders for the real estate company she was working for.
A comment I've read from another video stated that Patrick Bateman is an ultimate psychopath. While the real estate woman is an ultimate sociopath. The movie is open ended, but the book makes me believe this theory
Defoe filmed all his scenes 3 times apparently, with a different mindset on Bateman's guilt for each one. My take (and I've only seen it once), is that Bateman is a smalltime member of the company who is jealous of the other men. He pictures himself doing things to progress and what he could do if he had the guts. The morning routine sets him up as a successful, cool guy, but I think he's the opposite. The scene where he and Jared Leto have the same glasses makes me think he wants to be just like Paul Allen, so imagines himself killing him and stepping into what he thinks Paul Allen's life is like.
I've seen a video showing how they mix the takes of Willem Dafoe being clueless or suspicious. It's such a nice touch. IMO it points to the fact the movie has an unreliable narrator, and Bateman was imagining most (if not all) the murders.
@@DanilegoPlays yeeea its genius. 3 different versions he filmed; one he didn't suspect Bateman, the second he was a bit suspicious and the last where he's quite sure its Bateman
For me the "open ending with multiple interpretations" is a double-edged sword, I feel that many directors use it as a crutch because they don't have a specific angle for the end of their film or they think that leaving things ambiguous automatically makes your work more "intellectual". But in some rare cases, like this movie, I think it works perfectly. and I think it goes beyond the idea of theorizing what is real and what is not, this movie is a character study of a 80´s Yuppie, which ironically contrasts with the characterization of the wolf of wall street that you saw recently, and shows the deterioration of one of this kind of individuals disassociated from reality and detached from all humanity because of their appearance and their social status. I know that since your job is to react and analyze movies, what I am going to say gonna sound bizarre, but I think that the fact that there are no clear answers to any of the questions that you had at the end is the main point of the film: in the mind of someone like Patrick Bateman we cannot be sure if everything is in his mind, if society and his status is what is keeping him free from repercussions, which people and which conversations are real and which are not, because at the end the character himself is not sure where reality ends and where HIS reality begins?
As a former designer of business cards in the 90's....that card scene always has me in stiches. People like that existed!! And Calvin's face at the end of the movie...mirrored my own back in the day sitting on my couch like...wtf???
This movie has so many interpretations that each change the movie, that if you rewatch it believing another ending, it keeps the movie interesting and alive. That is why it’s a classic.
It's remarkable that they were able to translate this book to the screen. I genuinely wouldn't have thought it was possible let alone possible to do so well. All the stuff happened. The whole point is that everyone is so superficial and self absorbed that even so called friends can't tell each other apart.
Agreed. I believe that everything in the movie actually did happen, but everyone on Wall Street is so far up their own asses that a man like Bateman could commit these atrocities and nobody would notice or even care. And much of it would be covered up anyway because of the types of connections that Wall Street types have. The woman landlord is a great example. She totally found the bodies and had someone clean them up so she could rent the apartment to the next person.
Over the years this movie has become a comfort film for me. Once you watch it enough times it feels like getting into a rollercoaster that you are familiar with but it's still exhilarating. Reading about how this movie was made is also a joy, everything from the book to the marketing. My favorite tidbit is that to advertise the movie you could sign up to get an e-mail from Patrick Bateman to his psychiatrist detailing the events post-movie.
Love this movie. So dark, but yet so funny, especially the “Hip to Be Square” scene. Also love the questions this movie makes you have like, “did Patrick kill those people, and if so, is the realtor/his dad covering it up?” and then doing stuff like when Willem interviews Patrick, splicing in different takes of him not knowing it was Patrick, has a inkling it’s Patrick, and flat out knowing it’s Patrick to help make it more confusing. What else can I say outside of it’s… *SIMPLY IRRESISTIBLE*
Thank you so much for acknowledging the dance moves displayed by Justin Theroux’s character! 😄 I still dance like that when I’ve had a few too many, to this day. 🤟🏾
Soooo here is another take..I just always felt like it was more about his surroundings.. His world was so superficial that he did get away with it.. Everyone got everyone confused.(proof with the lawyer thinking Bateman was Davis) So my take is the lawyer at the end thinks he was with Paul Allen but he probably got him confused as well. It could be a metaphor on being in a class of people so oblivious to their surroundings that a person like this could exist in such a society unnoticed. Just how I like to see it.
A classic definitely. Christian became so much cooler in my eyes when I saw this for the first time as a teen because he could pull of Batman and a total psycho
Impressive. Very nice. Now let’s see Paul Allen’s reaction. Meme aside I’m so glad you guys are reacting to this! This is probably my favorite movie I’ve rewatched it so many times and the memes/quotes from this film are just the best.
I remember back in 2012 when my english literature teacher had us buy and read American Psycho. Quite an experience for my 19 year old self and the rest of the class. I didn’t really like the book tbh as it goes into too much details regarding everything (songs and gory murders), but the movie is a classic that I can rewatch often and it’s mostly due to Christian Bale and the weirdness of it all.
It goes into a lot of detail about everythign at first, but as the book goes on it gets less detailed and more unfocused and deranged, mirroring Patricks mental state detoriating. That works for it IMO.
The first scene he wasn’t pulling his face off- he was doing his rigorous morning routine and it was a face mask he was pulling off. Like one of those sheet mask ones used for hydration usually
Wonderful. Now lets see Paul Allen's movie. Also the interpretations I have are this: The fact that NONE OF THEM knew who the other was, and got each other confused all the time is the point. They are completely replaceable identical rich assholes. His murders were covered up by the apartment people because it would lower their property values, people continue to THINK Paul Allen is alive because they dont give a shit and are so self absorbed they dont even bother to totally identify who they are talking to. The police treat them all with kid gloves, talking nice to them, scheduling meetings at their offices, taking them out to dinner, no real police work being done at all.
If I remember rightly. There's an interview with the director of the movie saying that alot of this did happen but the people here where so self absorbed that most went unnoticed. The lady selling the apartment for example knew what happened but she was more bothered about selling this expensive apartment and covering what happened up than she was about telling the authorities. It's also why everyone keeps calling Patrick by different names. Everyone in there company is so similar and self obsessed that they never pay attention to who is who and what is going on around them.
Read directors interviews and said it closer to half of the stuff was real but half of it was not real. We only knew Bateman was unreliable narrator when things go total insane that it obviously doesn't make sense. What we don't know is when he truly lost touch with reality because it was assumed much sooner than when audience is made aware. At same time director wanted to created this messed up world of horrible people that the other possibility of everything being real and just so corrupt and narcissistic that it is very believe able he just got away with it all and no one cared. It was the mixture of how horrible Bateman was or might have been inside, some how still fit perfectly with people that were not technically psychopaths that is the real horror.
This movie is social critic about how people in this Wall Street world are so self-centered that they don't care about what's happening around them, or don't want to care. Ironically, the sick serial killer is the one that's the most aware that something is wrong in this universe, while almost every character, and especially his coworkers don't notice until it's staring them in the face. So everything he did was real (except for the ridiculous chase scene), but he just got away with it because of other people not noticing or hiding it to keep up appearances. In the end he wants to be punished for what he's done, but the final confrontation with his lawyer proves to him that there's nothing he can do, because the lawyer is so far gone that he can't even comprehend that Paul Allen is dead. Nobody will ever understand what he's done, so his confession is meaningless. I think the book makes this message more clear than the movie, although I love how the changes that the movie makes still carry out the same idea, even if it's more open to interpretation. It's a great adaptation.
The murders did happen, mostly. The film is a satire on 80s yuppie/materialistic culture. Throughout the film Bateman confesses to being a psychopath to multiple people (the model, the bartender, his fiancé, his lawyer, Paul Allen) but they all basically ignore him because they’re all too wrapped up in themselves to care/notice. Bateman desperately wants to ‘fit in’ but simultaneously hates the world around him and wants to set himself apart from the pack. Which leads into another huge aspect of the film which is mistaken identity. All the ‘yuppies’ in the film look vaguely similar. Same haircuts, same glasses, similar suits, near identical business cards. That’s why Bateman gets mistaken for halberstram by Paul Allen, and Davis by his lawyer. In the very first scene Bateman and his friends mistake someone else in the restaurant for Paul Allen. His lawyer at the end claims Bateman couldn’t have killed Paul Allen because he had dinner with him, he also likely mistook someone else for Paul Allen. Even the detective said the person who claims to have spotted Allen in London actually saw someone else. All the characters are supposed to be lacking in individuality, and extremely shallow. The Lewis character literally sees Bateman dragging a body outside of his apartment building and only cares to ask what designer brand the bag is from. Then the empty apartment at the end, the realtor woman clearly cleaned up the place and removed the bodies to maintain the value of the property, she’s part of the wealthy 80s New York elite, just like the rest of them. She likely assumed that Bateman was Paul Allen, and asked him to leave because she knew he’s the one who’d left the bodies there (she tested him with the question of whether he’d seen an ad in the times, then immediately asked him to leave and not come back). Interestingly, she’s the only character in the film that sees Bateman for what he is. Bateman’s monologue at the end was basically him coming to terms with the fact that he lives in a shallow hell, that he killed dozens of people and nobody cares or noticed. He gained no deeper knowledge of himself, and as he said, his confession meant nothing in the end.
The best way to explain this movie is that it's ultimately a black comedy. My interpretation is that everything before the night that starts at the ATM did happen, but he probably dreamed or hallucinated that night, then woke up and called his Lawyer, and the inconsistencies with identities is the social commentary, everyone dresses the same, has the same haircut, even the same job on those business cards.
I always thought that everything in the movie actually happened as such, but everyone on Wall Street is so far up their own asses and so protected by society that a man in this kind of world could commit these atrocities and nobody would notice or even care.
The way I always interpreted this movie was that the people in this company are all so interchangeable people kept getting Patrick's name wrong because they're all the same, same dreams, same ambitions, same haircuts, tastes, suits. So Patrick did kill and started freaking out more and more but it was impossible to tell if someone was really dead cause they could not tell who was who and didn't care to even figure it out. Even his lawyer had him as a client but had no idea who he was cause they had always talked on the phone before that final chat, Paul Allen kept thinking he was another guy, and since he was the one with the best connections, even after his death other people probably used his name to get reservations to exclusive restaurants and that's why the lawyer thought he had met him in London, and the cleaning lady covered up the murders so her property wouldn't lose value. So the confession amounts to nothing cause there's no way for him to prove he really did any of it.
There’s a really great analysis video on here that talks about how the movie shows everyday corporate America. How all the men try to look the same and speak the same way which explains all the identity issues. How everyone calls Patrick the wrong name, the lawyer at the end thought he was having dinner with Paul Allen but who knows, he could’ve been mistaking him for another man all along. I rewatch this all the time because it’s so great!
Man I love this movie , Patrick Bateman was the first funko pop i got ever. He now sits proudly in the centre of my horror collection. As you can tell from my profile pic.
The whole point is that everybody looks the same and they are all completely self-absorbed, so nobody notices anything he does and they all mistake each other for somebody else. So he definitely killed all those people.
We had to write a paper on this movie in college philosophy. I think whats genius is the lyrics of the songs and how they all flow together. New order-truth faith talks about finding delight in the shade of the morning sun. Then the next song they play is walking on sunshine. Huey lewis was just a good summary of the whole movie. And phil collins susudio the lyrics say “she don’t even know my name”!
Everything prior to feeding the cat to the ATM happened. People confuse each other for other people all the time. The realtor found the dead bodies and cleaned it up to sell the place because if it was found out about the dead bodies the market value would go down. His confession at the end comes down to wanting to be punished but not being able to due to how the world is and the apathy people have
Saved from Development Hell: Producer Edward R. Pressman first bought the rights to the book in 1992, with Johnny Depp expressing an interest in starring as Patrick Bateman and Stuart Gordon directing. Gordon wanted to do the film in black and white and stick as close to the book as possible, meaning a guaranteed X-rating. When this fell through, David Cronenberg was brought in, with Bret Easton Ellis adapting the book himself. Ellis found the process difficult, due to Cronenberg wanting to excise the book's violence and the restaurant and nightclub scenes (which he considered boring). Cronenberg was still listed as being attached to direct in March 1994, but with a new script by Norman Snider. Pressman appeared at the 1996 Cannes Film Festival to pre-sell distribution rights, but to no avail. Mary Harron replaced Cronenberg as director and wrote a new script with Guinevere Turner and Christian Bale starring; Harron and Bale clicked immediately, feeling like they shared a similar sense of humour about Bateman. Lionsgate picked up the distribution rights in 1997 and filming was due to begin in August 1998. However, Lionsgate felt that Bateman wasn't famous enough and pushed for Leonardo DiCaprio for the lead. Harron, who only wanted Bale, refused to even meet with DiCaprio, let alone cast him, as she felt that he was completely wrong for the part and that his teenage girl fanbase would be put off. When it seemed like Harron and Bale were out, DiCaprio drafted a shortlist of replacement directors, including Danny Boyle, Martin Scorsese and Oliver Stone, who was attached with a new script written by Matthew Markwalder with James Woods as Donald Kimball, Cameron Diaz as Evelyn Smythe, Elizabeth Berkley as Courtney Rawlinson and Chloë Sevigny as Jean. Stone, whom Harron called "probably the single worst single person to do it", wanted to eliminate the satire from Harron's script, emphasizing the psychological character traits of Bateman. However, Stone could not agree on the film's direction with DiCaprio, who decided to star in The Beach instead. In the meantime, Bale remained committed, turning down other movie roles and auditions for nine months, confident that DiCaprio would depart. In 2022 he talked of how he would occasionally talk to Harron on the phone, and she would tell him that the film was being made by other people, and he should probably stop preparing for it, and we would simply reply Yeah, no-we're gonna make it. He and Harron were eventually brought back under the agreement that the budget would not exceed $10 million. Production finally started in February 1999 and finished in April of that year.
I think the sequence of running away from the cops is a hallucination, and I think the chainshaw murder was a hallucination. However, I do believe he murdered some of the women, and Paul Allen. I think the idea of a sociopathic realtor cleaning up the scene is true. If the film put more focus on Patrick Bateman's father (who is the head of their company), then I would believe all the murders actually happened, and his father just covered it all up.
my interpretation might be wrong, but i liked thinking at the end bateman did indeed kill all those people, and everyone was complicit in covering it up for the sake of appearances. if i remember right, they mention at some point in the movie that bateman's dad is somebody important, so someone who could pull strings, and an important part of the movie is keeping up appearances to others. the whole thing seems to be a commentary on wall street or at least the people on it, so them covering it up so that they don't look bad feels like a plausible explanation for the end. but who knows, just my two cents.
so most things that happened were real. The director of the movie said that only certain things as the movie progresses are his imagination. For example the scene with the chainsaw and everything after he killed the old lady at the ATM were probably in his head. The lawyer (probably hired by his father) was trying to cover it up and subtly tellign him to not give a confession and shut up. The apartment was cleaned up to resell it at a higher value. The reason most people mistake names in the movie is because they are so superficial and self-absorbed that they dont even remember peoples names or bother to ask it (they also dress the same). The only person he really didnt WANT to kill and cared about was his secretary but as he said his bloodlust was getting harder to supress. The phone call mad him snap out of it and he sent her away because he didnt want to hurt her.
As far as I know, the general consensus is that most of the stuff did actually happen. The point is that everyone in that culture is so insanely superficial and self centered that no one notices whats going on. They even look the same so they‘re often mistaken for other people. For example, the lawyer probably met some other guy in London but mistook him for Paul Allen.
