TURNER

Tuner is a charming narrative film debut from Daniel Roher that is effortlessly entertaining mixing music, crime and romance that features outstanding sound design and music from Will Bates and Marius de Vries, ensuring an absolutely crowd-pleasing experience from start to finish.

Daniel Roher is an accomplished documentarian filmmaker, having won an Academy Award for best documentary Navalny back in 2023, but not wanting to prove to himself that he wasn’t just a documentarian filmmaker, he turned his eye to a narrative feature. Taking inspiration from his friend’s husband who is a piano tuner, Roher has crafted a character drama around a young piano tuner who finds his world turned upside down after discovering his unique hearing condition and tuning skills give him the ability to manually crack safes. Roher compared this transition to narrative filmmaking to Bob Dylan going electric, one of profound change from everything he has previously done as a filmmaker, but it’s not just the change that is electric but the film itself! From an endearing narrative full of wonderful characters, heart and great stakes, an excellent cast led by Leo Woodall featuring Havana Rose Liu, Dustin Hoffman and Tovah Feldshuh, and outstanding sound design and music throughout, audiences are destined to fall in love with Tuner when it opens in theatres later this spring.

There are so many recognizable influences of great films that characterize the story of Tuner, including films like Whiplash, Good Will Hunting, and Baby Driver, but the magic in the screenplay that Roher and his co-writer Robert Ramsey have written is how original and unique this film feels. Having shadowed his friend’s husband on the job, Roher has an innate understanding of the day to day life of a piano tuner, and some of the strange requests that are made of them, which he weaves into the screenplay’s first act to introduce the audience to the character of Niki. From there, Roher expands the world of Tuner, bringing in a romantic subplot with Liu’s Ruthie and the criminal activity that Niki gets tied up in to help cover his mentor’s medical bills. It’s well developed, balancing both the blossoming romance of Niki and Ruthie that is pure bliss with the increasing danger of the criminal activity that Niki is mixed up with. And when these separate plot lines come crashing together, the audible gasp from audiences and the charged third act that follows, which is both nail biting and cathartic for the characters is a testament to the genius of film that Roher has created, ensuring that there won’t be a single audience member leaving the theatre who is not in love with this film.

Leading the film is Woodall as Niki, and he proves himself to be a charming lead. The role requires a lot from him to create Niki’s reality with his hearing condition, but Woodall finds a vulnerability in Niki that captures this young man who feels removed from the world, while creating a deeply caring individual who would do anything for those he loves, even to his own detriment. Liu is a force as Ruthie, crafting an intelligent and headstrong young woman chasing her dreams that is best performance to date. Woodall and Liu’s romantic chemistry is easy, playful and tender, quickly investing the audience in their relationship and creating the emotional undercurrent of the film. Bringing that endless charm and energy he has for years to the silver screen, Hoffman is a delight as Niki’s mentor Henry, incorporating his own stories into the performance and proving that Roher writing the role for him was the perfect casting dream. Rounding out the main cast is Feldshuh who is wonderful as Henry’s wife Marla, bringing lots of heart and some big laughs to the film, and Lior Raz, who is a formidable threat as Uri, the dangerous criminal that Niki becomes intertwined with.

But, it is the sound of Tuner that truly makes the film, from the design of the film to its use of music throughout. With Niki’s hearing condition, there are many sequences throughout the film where sound designer Johnnie Burn immerses the audience in Niki’s world. Sounds are either deafeningly terrifying to recreate how Niki reacts to the loud world around him, or there is a muffled silence that captures the isolation Niki is forced to live his life on a day to day basis. The moments in which this sound design is employed is deliberate, heightening specific moments throughout the film to either raise the narrative stakes or deepen Niki’s character, deepening the experience for the audience. Will Bates’ created distinct sounds for each element of the film, such as the crashes of percussion during the safe cracking (which is actually Bates using mallets and hitting his piano) that helps develops the film’s energy, while Marius De Vries composes the orchestral and piano pieces that Ruthie and Niki play in the film (which is actually Woodall and Liu performing them, having learnt to play the piano for film). And then there’s a great soundtrack that captures the film, featuring jazz compositions from The Dave Brubeck Quartet, and needle drops from artists such as Dean Martin, each capturing the infectious spirit that Roher has created in this film.

There are some films that you can recommend to absolutely everyone, because there is a universal quality about them: they are filled with aspects that film lovers can appreciate due to the expertise in the filmmaking, but also highly entertaining so that the more casual movie goer will without question enjoy it. And Daniel Roher achieves exactly this with Tuner. Crossing genres, capturing a young love romance, a tense heist thriller and a charming old school Hollywood that echoes the tone of the timeless films of Rob Reiner, every element of Tuner from the sound design, music, writing and performances makes for one impressive narrative debut from Daniel Roher. With an infectious energy that enthralls from start to finish, Daniel Roher channels timeless entertainment in his narrative feature debut that features excellent performances from the lead cast of Leo Woodall, Havana Rose Liu and Dustin Hoffman, an impressive use of music and immersive sound design that makes Tuner a tour de force experience from start to finish.