History Film / OneHourPhoto

* AbusiveParents: [[spoiler:It is strongly implied by Sy at the end of the movie, that his parents sexually abused him and used him for child pornography.]]

* RelationshipSalvagingDisaster: The ending implies that Sy's stalking and specifically [[spoiler:his exposure of Will's affair and abuse of Will and Maya ultimately saved Will and

* SoullessBedroom: Seymour is shown as having not just his bedroom, but his entire apartment be sterile and bare, with minimal furnishings except for an entire wall of photos of the family with whom he's secretly obsessed, which he obtained by making copies of their pictures when they bring their film in for developing at the store where he works.

* VillainProtagonist: Downplayed. [[TragicVillain Sy]] commits invasions of privacy, threatens his boss's family, menaces Will and Maya with a knife and coerces them into producing mock-porn, but stops short of physical assault or murder.

* CreepyMonotone: Sy Parrish. It's creepy as hell to Robin Williams' voice like that, doubly so on the few times he ends up SuddenlyShouting.
* DarkAndTroubledPast: After he's [[spoiler:been arrested]], Sy tells the police interrogator that [[spoiler:his ''parents'' involved him in child pornography when he was young]]. On top of that, it's implied at an earlier point in the film that on at least one occasion someone has dropped in pedophiliac images to be developed at Sy's store, which very likely didn't help matters.
* DaydreamSurprise: In one scene, Sy drives up to the Yorkin house while the family is away. This is followed by a montage of him breaking into and exploring the house, and doing mundane things like going to the bathroom. This culminates in him sitting on the couch watching a football game while drinking a beer and wearing a sweater he hadn't had on before; all just as the family's coming home. They walk in and see him before he can escape, but instead of reacting with shock or outrage, they chat with him like he lives with them and they were merely surprised to see him home. The camera then cuts back to Sy, still sitting in his car, revealing that the whole scene was just a daydream.

* HilariousOuttakes: Sy is such a bottled-up and intense character that it's actually fairly shocking to watch the DVD "behind the scenes" features and see that between takes Robin acted just like his normal goofy self. Director Mark Romanek has said that he occasionally would tell Robin to just "let it out" and joke constantly for 10 minutes or so when he felt he had become too deep in character.

* JumpScare: Exactly one, occurring right before the one-hour mark and making for arguably the most disturbing visual in the film where Sy has HighPressureBlood shoot out of his eyes. However, it's AllJustADream, as Sy wakes up immediately after this happens.

* OhCrap: Sy breaks into the Yorkins' home while they're away and watches TV on their couch for a while. When he hears them coming through the front door a while later, his expression is very much this. [[spoiler:But then it turns out he was [[AllJustADream just daydreaming]].]]

** Bill, when [[spoiler:Sy returns to Sav-Mart to have some pictures developed, after having been fired by Bill.]]

* RedEyesTakeWarning: Sy's NightmareSequence. [[spoiler:He stands in a completely empty, white department store aisle with his eyes closed. The camera keeps fading in closer until he opens his eyes... that are ''completely blood red.'' All sound cuts out at this moment, making it [[JumpScare all the more startling]] when he grabs his face and screams as [[HighPressureBlood blood shoots from his eyes]].]]

* VillainProtagonist: Downplayed. [[TragicVillain Sy]] commits invasions of privacy, threatens his boss's family, menaces Will and Maya with a knife and coerces them into producing mock-porn, but stops ''just'' short of murder.

* BitchInSheepsClothing: Sy is meek and passive most of the time, but under the harmless exterior is a dangerous sociopath. Even ignoring [[spoiler:his outright criminal behavior following his final breakdown]], Sy's confrontation with the maintenance tech and his attempt to blame his missing prints on Yoshi show just how unhinged and manipulative he is.

* BigScrewedUpFamily: Contrary to what Yorkin initially perceives, things are not quite right with the Yorkin family, specifically that Will has been carrying out an affair on the side. The stability of the family begins fraying further after Sy becomes directly involved with it following is discovery of said affair.

-->'''Sy:''' I've never ''[[PrecisionFStrike fucked up]]'' a customer's prints in 11 years!

* BitchInSheepsClothing: Sy is meek and passive most of the time, but under the harmless exterior is a dangerous sociopath. Even ignoring [[spoiler: his outright criminal behavior following his final breakdown]], Sy's confrontation with the maintenance tech and his attempt to blame his missing prints on Yoshi show just how unhinged and manipulative he is.

* PrecisionFStrike: Bill, when [[spoiler:Sy returns to Sav-Mart to have some pictures developed, after having been fired by Bill.]]
-->'''Bill:''' There's no reason for you to come down here other than to fuck with me.

Released to critical and commercial success, this movie gave Williams a much-needed CareerResurrection and, along with ''Film/{{Insomnia}}'' and ''Film/DeathToSmoochy'', helped usher in the so-called [[DarkerAndEdgier "dark period"]] of the actor's career, where he brought disturbing subtexts of his protagonists to the forefront after spending several years making overly maudlin infused movies. Despite [[TechnologyMarchesOn digital photography making photo developing somewhat obsolete]], the movie is still incredibly effective as a psychological thriller.

* BigScrewedUpFamily: The Yorkins, especially with Sy involved.

* TragicVillain: Sy is a deeply troubled man who became obsessed with a single family because he desperately yearned for their seemingly perfect lifestyle. [[spoiler:Then he reveals at the end that his parents sexually abused him when he was a child.]]

* UnreliableNarrator: Sy narrates a few times through the movie.

* WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds: Especially when you find out [[ParentalIncest what made Sy crazy]].

* AmbiguousEnding: The very last shot in the film is [[spoiler:a photograph of the Yorkin family, with Sy smiling among them.]] It is intentionally left unclear as to whether this is [[spoiler:a real picture or more of Sy's fantasizing.[[note]]According to the director, it's the former. He felt that it was entirely possible for the Yorkins to eventually forgive Sy, and to express some sort of gratitude for his attempt to stop them from falling apart.[[/note]]]]

--> '''Sy''': I've never ''[[PrecisionFStrike fucked up]]'' a customer's prints in 11 years!

--> '''Bill''': There's no reason for you to come down here other than to fuck with me.

* EyeScream: The RedEyesTakeWarning sequence in Sy's dream, where HighPressureBlood shoots from his empty eye sockets. However, he wakes up immediately after this happens, and rubs his hands over his face and eyesockets, making sure he's okay before he calms down.

* SoullessBedroom: Seymour is shown as having not just his bedroom, but his entire apartment be sterile and bare, with minimal furnishings. Except for an entire wall of photos of the family with whom he's secretly obsessed, which he obtained by making copies of their pictures when they bring their film in for developing at the store where he works.

* EyeScream: The RedEyesTakeWarning sequence.

* HighPressureBlood: One really bad case of "red eye." See RedEyesTakeWarning below.

* JumpScare: Exactly one, occurring right before the one-hour mark and making for arguably the most disturbing visual in the film. See RedEyesTakeWarning below.

* AmbiguousDisorder:
** Judging by his temperamental behavior, impulsive actions, emotional instability and desperate desire for love, it's very likely that Sy has borderline personality disorder.
** On top of that, his perfectionism, intense attention to detail and the fact he only lives for his work also heavily suggest he has obsessive-compulsive personality disorder as well. [[https://prezi.com/jh_f_ycpc78p/one-hour-photo-featuring/ There's even a presentation detailing this online.]]

* ParentalIncest: Sy very heavily implies [[spoiler:that his parents did this to him when he was young]].]

* WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds: Especially when you find out [[ParentalIncest what]] [[AbusiveParents made]] [[FreudianExcuse Sy]] [[BrainBleach crazy]].

->''"I just took pictures."''

* AmbiguousDisorder: Judging by his temperamental behavior, impulsive actions, emotional instability and his desperate desire for love, it's very likely that Sy has Borderline Personality Disorder.
** On top of that, his perfectionism, intense attention to detail and the fact he only lives for work also heavily suggests he has Obsessive-compulsive personality disorder as well. [[https://prezi.com/jh_f_ycpc78p/one-hour-photo-featuring/ There's even a presentation detailing this online.]]

* AntiVillain: Sy is a type 2.

Released to critical and commercial success, this movie gave Williams a much-needed CareerResurrection and, along with ''Film/{{Insomnia}}'' and ''Film/DeathToSmoochy'', helped usher in the so-called [[DarkerAndEdgier "dark period"]] of the actor's career, where he brought disturbing subtexts of his protagonists to the forefront after spending several years making overly maudlin, TastesLikeDiabetes-infused movies. Despite [[TechnologyMarchesOn digital photography making photo developing somewhat obsolete]], the movie is still incredibly effective as a psychological thriller.