What is American Psycho's IQ Score?

American Psycho has an IQ Score of 158/200 on TV Intelligentsia's Intelligence Quotient framework, placing it in the Stimulating tier. The score breaks down to 41/50 Cognitive Stimulation, 38/50 Educational Value, and 39/50 Craft & Quality.

Is American Psycho educational?

American Psycho is strong on Educational Value, 38/50 on TVI's rubric, which rates the density and integration of substantive information within the work.

How does TV Intelligentsia calculate IQ Score?

TV Intelligentsia's current published formula is round((Cognitive Stimulation × 0.4 + Educational Value × 0.35 + Craft & Quality × 0.25) × 4), scoring titles from 0 to 200 across five tiers. TVI publishes a three-dimension breakdown only when those values reproduce the displayed composite. The framework is published at tvintelligentsia.com/methodology/.

American Psycho IQ Score 158/200

American Psycho has an IQ Score of 158/200 on TV Intelligentsia's Intelligence Quotient rubric, placing it in the Stimulating tier.

By Jordan Robinson, MD, MPH·Updated 2026-09-21·Methodology

thrillersatiredrama

158/ 200

Stimulating

Consistently challenges the viewer and rewards attention

Score Breakdown

Legacy score. Published under our earlier workflow, before the current standard took effect in August 2026. A founder reviewed and approved it against our methodology, under a process that does not meet the standard we hold now. What this means →

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Cognitive Stimulation/50

Educational Value/50

Craft & Quality/50

IQ = round((Cognitive × 0.4 + Educational × 0.35 + Craft × 0.25) × 4) · How we score →

What these dimensions mean

Cognitive Stimulation: observable narrative complexity, conceptual density, ambiguity, inference, and sustained intellectual demands in the work.
Educational Value: the density and integration of substantive academic, historical, scientific, cultural, ethical, or practical information in the work.
Craft & Quality: production excellence in service of the work, its direction, writing, performance, and aesthetic intent.

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The Verdict

Best forViewers who want 1980s Wall Street masculinity dissected as satire, never celebrated

Skip ifThe violence and the irony arrive unlabeled; the film never flags which register is live

Use it asA study of narcissism performing itself, from the business-card scene outward

Why you should trust this score

Scored under Jordan Robinson, MD, MPH

Physician and founding editor. Maintains the adult catalog against the published rubric and reviews the rubric application.

Methodology

Published rubric, v1.3.1

Formula

round((C × 0.40 + E × 0.35 + Q × 0.25) × 4)

Database scale

2,607 titles, version-controlled

How we stay independent. Editorial scores are not for sale. TVI may take on paid advisory or research work, but no commercial relationship buys coverage, advance access to scores, favorable treatment, or a change to a published finding. We pay for our own streaming subscriptions, and no reviewer sees sponsor data or affiliate revenue tied to a score. More about how we work →

The TVI Take

Mary Harron's 2000 adaptation of Bret Easton Ellis's novel that committed to the satire-of-1980s-Wall-Street-masculinity premise harder than the property's reputation suggested possible. Christian Bale's Patrick Bateman is one of the most carefully-rendered American-cinema villains because the performance treats narcissism as cognitive material, the Huey Lewis monologue and the business-card sequence are sustained inquiry into how status anxiety becomes the substance of identity.

Harron's direction reframes the novel's most controversial elements as critique rather than as celebration.

People & Production Mary Harron · Starz Entertainment · United States 24 connections

Direction & creation

Director

Mary Harron

Writer

Guinevere Turner Mary Harron

Producer

Edward R. Pressman

On screen & sound

Selected cast

Christian Bale Justin Theroux Jared Leto Bill Sage Josh Lucas Chloë SevignySelected in source order; not represented as billing order.

Composer

John Cale

Cinematography

Andrzej Sekuła

Production & release

Production company

Starz Entertainment Edward R. Pressman Film

Distributor

Lionsgate Films

Country of origin

United States Canada

Original language

English

Related works

Followed by

American Psycho 2

Based on

American Psycho

Credits and relationships: Wikidata, CC0. TVI preserves production, broadcasting, and distribution as separate roles.

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161

Also directed by Mary HarronAlias GraceMasterclass

162

Also produced by Starz EntertainmentMargin CallMasterclass

168

Also features Jared LetoFight ClubMasterclass

167

Also features Chloë SevignyZodiacMasterclass

Characters Scored Here

People search for these characters by name. TVI doesn't invent fictional-character IQ numbers, but American Psycho's score is the honest answer to how seriously the work treats each mind.

Patrick BatemanIQ →

Where to Watch

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