12 Movies That Made You Work Out The Answer Yourself
11. American Psycho
The Question: How much of Patrick Bateman's (Christian Bale) killing spree, if any, actually happened, and how much of it was merely imagined by him?
American Psycho concludes with Bateman going on an hilariously over-the-top killing spree, as the police chase him down and he eventually makes a desperate final confession for all of his murderous misdeeds.
Then the reveal follows that there's no physical proof of Bateman's acts, and his secretary Jean (Chloe Sevigny) discovers profane scribblings in his journal which seem to suggest his rampage was pure fantasy. There's even the suggestion that Bateman isn't who he says he is, as the film ends on a chillingly non-commital note.
Some believe that Bateman's rampage happened mostly as depicted, but his delusional mind exaggerated some of the sillier aspects; others feel that he killed everyone minus Paul Allen (Jared Leto), who is said to be alive at the end of the movie; and some suspect that he didn't kill even a single person.
The film's slippery logic and unreliable protagonist make all three theories valid in their own way, though the film's co-writer Guinevere Turner has stated that she intended to convey the first of the three.
However, it's not clear whether or not director Mary Harron - who also co-wrote the film - and Christian Bale agree with her stance, so it's certainly not safe to take Turner's opinion as gospel.