Film Review: Tuner

Leo Woodall's apprentice piano tuner is lured into criminality in Daniel Roher's gripping drama

Credit: Black Bear

I’m gradually becoming a fan of Leo Woodall. After a splendid supporting performance in Bridget: Mad About the Boy (2025) and his heartbreaking turn in Netflix’s adaptation of One Day (2024), he’s on great form in director Daniel Roher’s Tuner, as New York City apprentice piano tuner, Niki. He’s effectively an adopted nephew to Harry (Dustin Hoffman), a friend of Niki’s late father. Niki also has a talent for cracking old-fashioned safes, thanks to suffering from hyperacusis (extreme sensitivity to sound). This comes in handy when an increasingly forgetful Harry forgets the combination to his safe.

Unfortunately, it also provides temptation when an unfortunate plot development involving mounting medical bills (US “healthcare” strikes again) causes Niki to do the wrong thing with good intentions. He gets involved with a criminal, Uri (Lior Raz), and his gang of safe-cracking burglars. At the same time, he develops a romantic relationship with music conservatory student, Ruthie (Havana Rose Liu), whose ambition is to become an apprentice to renowned composer Marius Maissner (Jean Reno). Things go well for a while, but naturally, Niki’s life of crime comes back to bite him in the backside, in ways that complicate his relationships with Harry, Harry’s wife, Marla (Tovah Feldshuh), and Ruthie.

Roher and co-screenwriter Robert Ramsey are less interested in the crime thriller elements and more in the romantic story, and the lead characters in general. The love story is poignant, with further detail about Niki’s condition gradually revealed, and how it forced him to set aside a potential career as a virtuoso pianist with perfect pitch. Besides Woodall, the rest of the cast are excellent. Hoffman’s character is curmudgeonly but warm and outgoing. However, he largely takes a back seat, with Havana Rose Liu proving the key member of the supporting cast. Roher includes some nice little directorial touches as Ruthie warms to Niki, such as the way her hair is tied up in a bunch when they initially meet, then it’s in a ponytail, then free-flowing as romance blossoms. Perhaps not an original idea, but an effective visual cue all the same.

This shares some obvious thematic DNA with Fingers (1978), and more recently, Baby Driver (2017). My wife, who saw this with me, commented immediately afterwards that this was like Baby Driver with Jewish people and no car chases, pointing out many thematic and narrative parallels. However, Roher’s style is far removed from Edgar Wright’s, so the comparison may not immediately leap to mind when viewing.

Tuner isn’t without flaws. One particular contrivance in the final act raised my eyebrows. All the same, this is well-made, gripping, and enjoyable overall. It’s worth adding that although the film is scored by Will Bates, the music Ruthie composes onscreen is written by Marius De Vries. I should add another special shout for sound designer Johnnie Burn, who enables us to experience the world through Niki’s ears throughout, amid the various ways in which he protects his hearing from intolerable volume and is sometimes unable to do so. It’s a deft and immersive choice, making the film all the more effective.

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