Psychiatrists Say This Movie Character Is Hollywood’s Most Realistic Psychopath

A study by forensic psychologists has named Anton Chigurh from the 2007 film No Country for Old Men as the most realistic psychopath in Hollywood.

The research, reported by Science News in 2014, examined 400 movies featuring characters labeled as psychopaths to determine which portrayals were closest to real-life psychopathy.

Anton Chigurh, played by Javier Bardem, is a cold-blooded hitman who kills without remorse using a captive bolt pistol, a tool normally used for slaughtering animals. Unlike many cinematic villains, Chigurh is soft-spoken, detached, and emotionless. His occasional smiles seem manipulative rather than genuine.

Samuel Leistedt, one of the psychologists behind the study, said Chigurh’s behavior mirrors real-life assassins he has analyzed. “[Anton] does his job, and he can sleep without any problems. In my practice, I have met a few people like this. They were like this. Cold, smart, no guilt, no anxiety, no depression,” Leistedt explained, calling him a “primary, classic/idiopathic psychopath.”

Other characters ranked highly in the study include Hans Beckert from Fritz Lang’s 1931 film M and Henry from the 1986 movie Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer. Hans Beckert, a child murderer, was classified as a secondary, pseudopsychopath with psychosis, while Henry’s chaotic, empathy-free life made him disturbingly realistic as well.

No Country for Old Men, directed by the Coen Brothers, was a major critical and commercial success.

The film premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in 2007 and grossed $171 million worldwide on a $25 million budget. Bardem’s portrayal of Chigurh earned widespread praise, and the film won four Oscars, including Best Picture, as well as multiple BAFTAs and Golden Globes.

Critics celebrated it as one of the best films of the 2000s, and in 2024 it was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry for being culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.

The movie is often regarded as a high point in the Coen Brothers’ career, combining their trademark dark humor with suspenseful storytelling and a deeply unsettling villain. Chigurh’s character stands out for his accuracy in representing psychopathy, making him both terrifying and believable.

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