The 7 Best Movies Where The Hero is Also the Villain

Having heroes and villains in movies is a trope even used in romantic movies. There’ll always be that one suave British guy trying to swoop in and steal the woman away from our everyday hero who just wants to find love, start a family and thrive in a mediocre job. Having that tension field between a protagonist’s hopes and dreams and the antagonist’s disruptions of said hopes and dreams is what makes a good and exciting movie, no matter the genre. 

Some movies turn that trope entirely upside down and turn the hero into his own villain. It turns a regular “X vs Y” tension field into almost an in-depth character study which opens up an entirely different method of storytelling. Here are a few movies that have done so, to great success.

American Psycho

Christian Bale has always been a good actor and even managed to make “Thor: Love and Thunder” watchable, but he’s never been as good as he was in the movies (yes, there are more) we’ll see on this list. Christian Bale, despite being the best Batman, is still a better hero when the villain is also… Christian Bale. Nothing really stops Patrick Bateman from greatness in “American Psycho,” until he goes full Patrick Bateman. It’s a great movie with a stellar Christian Bale and it’s honestly a must-see at this point.