Tuner (2026) Black Bear/Drama-Thriller RT: 109 minutes Rated R (language throughout, some violence, drug use, brief nudity) Director: Daniel Roher Screenplay: Daniel Roher and Robert Ramsey Music: Will Bates Cinematography: Lowell A. Meyer Release date: May 22, 2026 (US) Cast: Leo Woodall, Havana Rose Liu, Lior Raz, Tovah Feldshuh, Jean Reno, Dustin Hoffman, Nissan Sakira, Gil Cohen, C.S. Lee.
Rating: *** ½
Do you know what pains me the most about a great indie movie like Tuner? I’ll tell you what. It’s almost certain to get lost in the shuffle of high-profile summer movies coming out in the next few weeks. It probably won’t even get a proper release. It’ll play in a handful of theaters for maybe a week or two before making way for some major studio blockbuster. It makes me sad to think audiences will miss out on a superior crime drama that favors story and character over spectacle and character types.
Tuner is the first non-doc from Oscar-winning documentary filmmaker Daniel Roher (Navalny) and it is pitch perfect. Leo Woodall (Nuremberg), in a star-making performance, plays the title character, a piano tuner named Niki. He suffers from an auditory affliction called hyperacusis which makes everyday sounds painfully loud. Once a promising piano prodigy, he now wears ear plugs and sometimes headphones to deal with the noise of New York life.
Niki leads an uneventful life tuning pianos for wealthy people while his boss and mentor Harry (Hoffman, Rain Man) talks about the old days. While working late one night, he happens on a gang of thieves trying unsuccessfully to crack a safe in an upstairs bedroom. He asks them to keep it down. The boss Uri (Raz, Gladiator II) challenges Niki to get into the safe. With his heightened hearing, he can hear the tumblers inside. It’s a talent he didn’t know he had until now. Uri pays him generously and offers him a job.
Harry suffers a health crisis and his wife Marla (Feldshuh, The Walking Dead) has no way of paying the mounting hospital bills. Niki calls Uri and accepts his offer. Of course, he can’t tell anybody what’s he’s doing on the side, not even his new girlfriend Ruthie (Liu, Bottoms), a gifted piano student who dreams of being a composer. She and Niki meet when he’s called to tune her instrument for a big show. Annoyed at first, she becomes intrigued when she discovers he has perfect pitch.
Tuner is a compelling crime drama highlighted by fully developed characters and an offbeat sensibility. Although he’s only in it for a total of maybe 20 minutes (unconscious in a hospital bed for a lot of it), Hoffman leaves an indelible impression as Harry, an old rascal with a lot to say. Much of his dialogue, like all that business about tuna fish, is improvised. The 88YO actor is a national treasure; it’s always great to see him act. He brings so much to every movie he’s in (yes, even Ishtar!) even if it is in small doses.
Woodall is one of those “one to watch” actors. The Brit actor isn’t well known yet, but I have a feeling he will be soon. What he does in Tuner is simply amazing. He conveys complete confidence as a young guy just trying to make it through life despite a disadvantage that makes it extremely difficult to navigate a noisy place like NYC. The desperation that makes him turn to a life of crime is palpable. He’s basically a decent person forced to do wrong to do right. The circumstances are totally believable; we all know the cost of medical care is outrageous. It makes you wonder who the real bad guys are in Tuner. Is it Uri and his gang or the unfeeling hospital charging an arm and a leg? It’s definitely debatable.
Liu does a fine job as Ruthie, an aspiring composer prepping for a performance that could land her an internship with a famous maestro (Reno, Leon the Professional). She has great chemistry with both Woodall and Hoffman. I love her reaction to Hoffman’s antiquated ideas of courting a young lady. I also love that Roher, who co-wrote the screenplay with Robert Ramsey, doesn’t paint her as some random love interest with no defining traits. Ruthie is smart, talented and feisty. She doesn’t fall immediately head over heels for Niki. More than once, she expresses concern about her budding career and how a relationship might affect it.
Tuner is just about perfect save for an unbelievable plot twist near the end. It has something to do with a watch Niki gifts to Ruthie. You know what? In hindsight, I should have seen it coming, but at the same time, I never would have thought Roher would resort to a cheap trick like that. On the other hand, it does give Niki a possible way out of a situation he’s long since lost control of.
I know many of you out there are looking forward to the big titles hitting cinemas in the next few months. That’s fine, no judgment from my end. Tuner is for that subset of viewers who prefer something a little more substantial. It’s smart, suspenseful and funny. It has characters worth investing in emotionally. It has a story that doesn’t rely solely on thrills. It’s an intelligent crime drama for adults. That kind of entertainment is typically in short supply during the hot weather months. If it sounds like something you’d enjoy, you better get on it right away. It won’t be around for long.
