Tuner first premiered at the Telluride Film Festival in August of 2025 and was a surprise hit. It is the first narrative feature film from director Daniel Roher who previously won an Oscar in 2023 for his documentary Navalny when he was just 29 years old. But you would never know from watching Tuner that it was coming from essentially a first time director. The movie is so assured in its tone, so tight in its storytelling, and such a return to a certain kind of film from a past age, you would think Roher had been doing this for years. What I knew about Tuner going in was that it was about a piano tuner who also cracks safes. What I didn’t know or expect was the genre-crossing, spectrum-spanning tone the movie employs. Letterboxd user @impatrickt called the movie “a very cute and heartwarming violent crime thriller”. The Hollywood Reporter described it as “part Good Will Hunting, part crime thriller”. The more thriller aspects reminded me a bit of Baby Driver (with less action) while the more relationship-driven scenes had the air of When Harry Met Sally or You’ve Got Mail, putting forth a romanticized New York City. I found Tuner surprising, entertaining, and delightful in all the right ways.

Tuner follows Niki (Leo Woodall), a piano tuning apprentice to veteran Harry Horowitz (Dustin Hoffman) who has a roster of wealthy clientele. Niki is a former piano prodigy who was forced to give up his dream when he developed hyperacusis. The condition causes an extreme sensitivity to sound, debilitating his everyday life and forcing him to wear earplugs at all times, but also making him particularly adept at tuning pianos. And, as it turns out, cracking safes. One night while working late at the home of a client, Niki runs into a gang of thieves. He helps them open the safe so they can stop disturbing his work and their leader, Uri (Lior Raz), leaves Niki his card, offering him further work. When the money becomes too hard to pass up, Niki falls into a life of crime. At the same time, he’s falling for Ruthie (Havana Rose Liu), a gifted musician and aspiring composer he meets while tuning the piano at a music conservatory. Like any story, it all goes too well, until it doesn’t. 

For a movie so deeply rooted in the idea of noise, the sound was very much at the forefront. Oscar-winning soundmixer Johnnie Burn does a fantastic job on this front. In scenes where the audience is placed in Niki’s point of view, the sounds become so loud and unpleasant I wanted to plug my own ears in the theater. The score by Will Bates and original music written by Marius de Vries also fill in the sound for the musical aspect of the story. It’s beautiful and romantic at times but also fun and jazzy at others. 

Leo Woodall was one of the (many) stars to come of The White Lotus season 2 and, while he’s been in many projects since then, hasn’t totally popped yet as a leading man. Tuner is a great showcase for him because he is both charming and sensitive but also quiet and closed off. Yet, despite his more brooding moments and poor decision making, we’re on Niki’s side the entire time. We trust him. We root for him. I really love Leo and I hope this is the start of a real big break for him. If Leo is the soul of the movie, Dustin Hoffman is the heart. He is pure light and joy in what is unfortunately limited screen time. But every time he’s on screen, he’s the warmest comedic relief. Havana Rose Liu is also an actress on the come up and I think she’s always great and so striking to look at. 

Tuner was both funnier and sweeter than I was expecting it to be while still keeping me hooked on the crime thriller. The movie also has some fun montages and really great editing. It’s a very contained story that even while sometimes alludes to the past, never strays too far from the present moment. The vibes are awesome in a throwback sort of way to a smaller, unsplashy, fun hang of a film that sadly doesn’t get made as much anymore. I just found the intersection of all of these different ideas and the execution of them to be so interestingly done and I am all in for the future of Daniel Roher’s narrative film career (up next: Positano, “a romantic heist caper set in the picturesque Italian town of Positano” starring Matthew McConaughey and Zoe Saldaña… I will obviously be there). I would definitely, definitely recommend Tuner!

2026 Count: 42 movies, 20 seasons of television, 1 special