Yesterday I watched a Hollywood movie called American Psycho II (美色杀人狂2). I hadn’t watched American Psycho before, but it posed no problem at all. So I believe it is a standalone squeal of the previous one. It doesn’t seem very difficult to follow, at least most of the time. However, even now I’m not sure if I’ve correctly got the whole plot of the story. You just have to guess what has actually happened, for the movie doesn’t give you obvious or specific clues about some plots.   

The film starts with a little girl whose babysitter is on a date with Patrick Bateman, the infamous serial killer. She sees him kill and then dissect her babysitter. Surprisingly, the little girl manages to free herself and stabs him with an ice pick. Fast forward to the present day, the girl, who is called Rachael Newman, is now a college student studying criminology under Professor Starkman, a former FBI agent. She has been academically outstanding and aspires to join the FBI. It would make her a shoo-in for the FBI training program if she successfully gets the teaching assistant position under Starkman.

However, it seems hard for her to realize her dream. With a determined heart, she clears all the obstacles in her way by killing them one by one. First the lady with a funny voice, who seems in charge of the application, is killed. Then Brian Leads, son of a billionaire, is choked to death with a condom. He is no match for her, academically speaking, but his father’s money might tip the balance. Keith Lawson, who is equally very smart in her class, is also murdered. Cassandra Blaire, who has an affair with Starkman and has almost secured the position, is hanged by Rachael… In the process of her killings, she thinks she may have some mental problems and decides to see the school psychiatrist, Dr. Eric Daniels.

With so many people missing, why does no one suspect and begin a serious investigation? It turns out that she is not Rachael Newman. She killed the real Rachael at the beginning of the semester and assumed her identity. As the movie reaches its conclusion, she is pursued by the police in a car chase, which ends with Rachael driving off a cliff, resulting in the car exploding. At this point, the police and Dr. Daniels, as well as we viewers, all presume that the female serial killer finally died.

At the end of the movie, Dr. Daniels is giving a lecture on Rachael’s mind, promoting his book One in a Million----The Rachael Newman Killings at the school where FBI agents are trained. To his great astonishment, he sees Rachael among the students. You would never have imagined that she didn’t die at all. The one in the car was the real Rachael. She killed Starkman’s last assistant and stole her identity to get into this school! She indirectly reveals this secret because she feels there’s no point committing the perfect crime if no one knows about it.

The movie is truly absorbing, and the ending is far beyond my expectation. Despite this, I feel the plot seems not very plausible. Keith is killed in the school library in the daytime. How is it possible to kill him and then cover the crime? Who is the real Rachael and why is she killed? Altogether eight people are killed and most of them are obviously competitors for the teaching assistant position. Isn’t it too easy to kill? No one notice? Or the police are just too stupid?