History Theatre / AmericanPsycho

* AllJustADream: [[spoiler: There is the possibility that the murders and other events recounted by Bateman only take place inside his head.]]

* AmbiguousEnding: [[spoiler: What will happen to Patrick? Is he really a murderer, or is just crazy? We do not get an answer.]]

-->'''Bateman''': Where did you go to school, Paul?
-->'''Pryce''': For Christ sake, just suck his dick, will you?

* BorrowedCatchphrase: In part of the work's satire in shaping Bateman as a product of 1980's American culture and values, as molded by its media and most prominent political figures, Patrick appropriates other popular phrases of the era for himself. Most notably, Nancy Reagan's "Just Say No", and, more humorously while speaking on a telephone, George H.W. Bush's "Read My Lips".

-->'''Bateman''': I may be dealing with a nameless feeling, uh oh, uh oh, oh, but everyone keeps saying that I look amazing, so I dunno, dunno, dunno.

** Patrick's neighbor who bumps into him while at the dry cleaners later meets the same fate as Patrick's ex-girlfriend Bethany from the novel, [[spoiler: whom he murders with a nailgun, after she notices his David Onica painting is hung upside-down]].
** Several of Timothy [=Price's/Bryce's=] most outlandish outbursts and actions from the book and film are given to Bateman.

* MoonwalkDance: Bateman dances in his apartment to "Hip to Be Square" with a drunk and drugged Paul Owen [[spoiler: prior to killing him]].

-->'''Video Store Clerk:''' You've rented this movie 37 times.
-->'''Patrick:''' ''[slowly leaning in]'' And I find something new ''every... single... time.''

* ShoutOut: All interpretations of the work include references to the Broadway production of ''Theatre/LesMiserables''. Significantly, Patrick's secretary, Jean, being the most "normal" and moral of all the story's characters, shares her name with Jean Valjean, the redeeming moral protagonist of ''Les Mis''. However, the play itself is repeatedly referenced to establish it as yet another popular commercial product and extension of the consumerist and self-centered lifestyle to which Patrick adheres, irrespective of the work's intended artistic message (which paints a contrast with the wealth, immorality, and emptiness exhibited by Patrick and his peers). Worth noting that the original Broadway run of ''Les Mis'' through the late 1980's was so popular and tickets were in such high demand that theatergoers had to pay several hundred--even several ''thousand''--dollars to get in to see it, making the show most accessible to a wealthy clientele who can afford to spend excessive cash (and vie for seats just like other characters in ''American Psycho'' itself would try to get a table at Dorsia). In this this musical adaptation, Patrick and Evelyn attend a Broadway performance of the show but spend the time talking to each other and are not are paying attention to the story or its themes; their only interest is that the show is trendy and popular. By contrast, Jean, who is also in attendance at the same performance, is much more engaged and aware of what the show is about.

-->'''Bateman''': Later, sitting at my desk, I try to remember something, anything from my childhood, but there is nothing.

* OneHourWorkWeek: Patrick's job is very high-paying, with a cushy office, but he doesn't seem to ''do'' any actual work there and [[RichIdiotWithNoDayJob has a lot of free time on his hands]]. He frequently arrives late to his office, cuts out early, or does ''both'', while he prioritizes shopping errands, lunch meetings, or feeding his more personal obsessions back at his apartment. Most tellingly, when Patrick and all his associates attend a business meeting, the entire time is spent showing off their business cards.

* AlmostKiss: Bateman and Jean nearly kiss, before he realizes she really needs to leave and screams for her to go. It's also after this, not a massacre like in the film, that he tries to confess.

* PyrrhicVillainy: By the end of the story, it's clear that [[spoiler:all of Patrick's evil and depravity have afforded him nothing. He's still as lonely and miserable and empty as he was at the beginning, and no one gives a shit about him.]]

** In "Selling Out", Bateman sings "everything I'm telling you is a dream I'm selling you" to the audience.
** In "This Is Not An Exit", Bateman seems to realise he's a fictional character in a story, singing "look at what's been done here, judge it how you wish", "maybe you've been slaughtered, maybe you've been kissed, either way means nothing, I simply don't exist" and "none of this is real, it's not reality".

* IronicHell: Assuming Patrick really is a murderer, he'll likely never be caught. But that doesn't matter, because his life is already punishment enough. He's surrounded by people he hates, but doesn't know how to live away from them; he can't get anyone to stop him, because nobody hears what he says; even killing people isn't any fun, because everyone is so interchangeable that when one of them dies, nobody notices - and what's the point of a murder nobody knows about?

* ThroughTheEyesOfMadness: Goes beyond the usual tricks of the movie and book, and has Bateman with a VillainousBSOD about how none of this matters because he's fictional anyway.