Review of One Hour Photo (2002) by Morgan H — 11 Dec 2012

Romanek's outstanding and deeply disturbing first feature is a thought-provoking character study made all the more unnerving due to the sympathy we feel with its sad, lonely, but deeply unhinged protagonist, Sy "The Photo Guy" Parrish.

Played to perfection by Williams in perhaps his finest performance, the actor effortlessly infuses nuance and a deeply felt sadness with equal parts creepiness. The film is also beautifully shot, with its cinematography echoing the movie's intriguing themes on beauty in the eye of the beholder and why we as humans feel the need to document our lives through photographs, and the camerawork and color palette illiciting a sense of claustrophobia in even the widest of spaces.

A modern masterpiece of a psychological thriller.