OpenTube

The DISTURBING Movie That Inspired "BACKROOMS" | 1 Hour Photo

Cheatham Media

256,747 views

🌏 Upgrade your online protection with an all-in-one security app! Get an exclusive NordVPN deal + 4 months extra here ➼ https://nordvpn.com/cheatham It’s risk free with NordVPN’s 30-day money-back guarantee!

Robin Williams spent most of his career making people laugh. In One Hour Photo, he did the exact opposite, and this is easily one of my favorite roles he's ever played.
In this video, we're breaking down what I think is one of the most underrated psychological thrillers and exploring how Robin Williams delivered the most unsettling performance of his career. We'll dive into Sy's obsession with the Yorkin family, the film's themes of loneliness, trauma & isolation, and how director Mark Romanek creates a slow burning nightmare hidden beneath the fluorescent lights of a seemingly ordinary department store that they built from scratch.
Which brings us to the Backrooms.
There are a lot of similarities between One Hour Photo and Kane Parsons' Backrooms, and we'e not just talking buildings and fluorescent lights. But also how Sy and Clark are so much alike.
I always thought One Hour Photo deserved more recognition than it got so I was pleasantly surprised when Kane mentioned it as 1 of his inspirations for Backrooms.

#OneHourPhoto #RobinWilliams #Backrooms #KaneParsons #PsychologicalThriller #MovieAnalysis #FilmAnalysis #HorrorMovies #MovieBreakdown #VideoEssay #FilmTheory #A24 #MarkRomanek #SyParrish #MovieReview #cheatham #cheathammedia

20 Comments

@CheathamMedia Creator 3 months ago Pinned

🌏 Upgrade your online protection with an all-in-one security app! Get an exclusive NordVPN deal + 4 months extra here ➼ https://nordvpn.com/cheatham It’s risk free with NordVPN’s 30-day money-back guarantee!

I hope you guys enjoyed the breakdown, thanks for being here! Ive been a fan of this movie for a long the so its dope to see it getting some love over 20 years later!

@HarSov 3 months ago

That toy is actually from Neon Genesis: Evangelion, a popular 90's anime. However something you missed is that particular toy is a mass produced Angel from the End of Evangelion movie. Its essentially a false angel created by man which is a wonderful comparison to Sy himself.

@charliebaby7065 3 months ago

that wasnt blood pouring from his eyes it was liquid developer for film, but likely for black and white photography . like pyrogallol or catechol ( PMK Pyro)

@jeremyaks69 3 months ago

RIP Robin Williams, his works will be forever cherished ❤

@teepsycho8931 3 months ago

i really like one hour photo because it’s creepy but it doesn’t end with anyone dying it’s very realistic.

@oregon_rose 3 months ago (edited)

I feel like people can feel really attached to family vlogging channels on youtube as well; especially when they share every moment of their lives. It can be really unsafe to have people's children exposed to millions of strangers

@Leopoldbloomed 3 months ago

I actually saw this in theaters with my mom and it absolutely horrified me. Robin Williams was incredible

@majingazetto4146 2 months ago

Thing is: From today’s standpoint, a friendly local store attendant who knows your family and is friendly to the kids seems weird. Back when this movie was made, it was fading out, yet could still be seen as normal and nice.

@GingerGoldie-dr4br 3 months ago

Talking about how creepy it was for him to be looking at the pictures and talking to the waitress, like they were his own family when meanwhile, in 2026 on social media, people are dying to share their entire family online with the whole world. My how things have changed lol.

@robertdascoli949 3 months ago

I worked at a 1-hour photo developing pictures while this movie came out.

I got a lot of creepy questions for about a month

@gummywormjim 3 months ago

One of Robin Williams most upsetting films. When you learn what he's been through and you put the dialog together, it paints a terrible picture of a childhood that absolutely destroyed this man. His actions are, by no means, justified, but when you realize that that behavior has been normalized throughout his family life, it develops into very disturbing subtext.

@meikahidenori 3 months ago

Williams won an acting award for this film. it was huge when it came out.

@bjg8638 3 months ago

When the movie came out on DVD, my gf rented "the new robin williams movie." We were both creeped the hell out but i enjoyed it a lot and she hated it so much. She said it ruined Robin Williams for her forever. A bit dramatic, maybe, but i think it speaks to the depth of his performance as this weird, sad little man.

@JAMESSMITH-gr6ko 3 months ago

1 hour photo was way better and creepier than I thought it would be.

@Level100Monk 2 months ago

I think one thing you missed is this movie predicted the death of small towns. I grew up in a Texas town with a population of 5000. We knew our local Brookshires people. Our photo lab people, restaurants owners, everyone by a first name basis. It was second nature. However now the town is 250k people and knowing someone you aren’t related too is a major red flag. This movie is such a beautiful product of an era.

@Someguy7291y 3 months ago (edited)

23:22 the toy is actually one of the Mass Produced EVAs from The End of Evangelion and despite the way they look are actually the bad guys and are the ones to kill off one of the main characters in a bit of a gruesome way. I think the wolf in sheep’s clothing aspect fits the movie really well.

@BloodylocksBathory 2 months ago

"No one ever takes a photo of something they want to forget." A truly haunting line. I love the detail in that nightmare that Sy is bleeding developer fluids. The movie originally opened with a brief monologue from Sy about the red-eye flaw which used to regularly occur in photos, which I think was a setup to the nightmare (apart from the later reveal that he was abused).

@TOOLGhost 3 months ago

Everyone knows Robin was hilarious, but few people recognize how great of an actor he was.

Imo, what makes a good actor is that they "disappear" into the character... you no longer see the actor, only the character. Robin does that in this movie.

@Imetalman2000 3 months ago (edited)

The movie has hardly any jump scares, but is able to make you feel uncomfortable. You never know how to feel about the main character. He’s scary, but you feel sorry for him, kinda creepy, but also disarming. Robin Williams disappears into this character.

@Ynomrah9 2 months ago

These spontaneous ad reads are like that episode of Black mirror where they get the brain implant that sustain their life, but causes them to spout advertisements and it’s always super awkward and abrupt and throws everything off. It’s super creepy in the context of a YouTube video like this because you know the speaker is actually trying to make his voice and speech pattern seamlessly transition into an advertisement. We’re at the point where people are willingly turning themselves into hypnotized marketing bots.