Study Reveals Most Realistic Movie Psychopath: It's Not Who You Think

In a 2013 study published in the Journal of Forensic Sciences, researchers analyzed the portrayal of psychopaths in 400 films. Senior forensic psychiatrists and film critics assessed 126 characters. The study's surprising conclusion: Anton Chigurh, Javier Bardem's chilling character in "No Country for Old Men," was deemed the most realistic portrayal of a psychopath. "Chigurh does his job and sleeps without problems," one of the study's authors noted. This contrasts with other iconic villains like Norman Bates and Hannibal Lecter, who were deemed scary but not as realistic. The study highlights the complex nature of psychopathy and its representation in popular culture.