Co-written and directed by Daniel Roher, “Tuner” is my Favorite Film of 2026. I think this is an A.A.W. movie, but I doubt it will get nominated. I consider it to be a MUST-SEE! Although you may not have heard of Roher, he won the A.A. for the documentary “Navalny” (2022) and also directed the terrific documentary “Once Were Brothers: Robbie Robertson and the Band” (2019). This is his first fiction film, and I predict that he will have many more successes. It’s an Indie film that cost 7 million to make and has now grossed about 2.5 million in the U.S. This is pretty good for an Indie film, but the movie is terrific and I hope that many more millions see it. (It has a 95% RT rating for both critics and audience.) The movie needs to be seen on the B.S., not because of the cinematography, but rather the soundtrack. If I were you, right after reading this, I would check the “Flixter” app and see it ASAP, since the film probably won’t be in the theaters in a couple of weeks.
Niki (Leo Woodall) is a piano tuner afflicted with “hyperacusis,” a hearing disorder that makes ordinary sounds excruciating. In order to function, he wears earbuds in a controlled, quiet environment, but must also put on noise-cancelling headphones everywhere else. Niki was taught how to tune pianos by Harry (Dustin Hoffman), a senior citizen with a heart condition and low-level cognitive decline. Harry and his wife, Marla (Tovah Feldman), are parental figures, and they all love each other very much. Niki is a great tuner since he has perfect pitch, but he is barely making enough money and he is lonely. Niki was once a child-prodigy on the piano, but, after he was struck by hyperacusis, playing the piano became technically and emotionally impossible for him.
Niki is hired to tune a piano at a music school, where he meets Ruthie (Havana Rose Liu), who is practicing on the piano that will be used for her upcoming concert. Ruthie is a graduate student in composition who has composed an original piece, which she hopes will get her a position with a prominent composer. Niki is attracted to her both for her looks and musical abilities. Unfortunately, Harry gets ill and winds up in the hospital. Harry doesn’t have any heath insurance and owes about $36,000 in unpaid medical bills. Niki is tuning a piano late one night at a rich man’s house and hears noise upstairs preventing him from tuning. He goes upstairs and sees that three criminals are trying to drill into a safe. Due to his hyperacusis, Niki has opened Harry’s safe previously in order to retrieve Harry’s hearing aids (Harry left them in there by mistake and forgot the combination). To get these criminals to stop the racket, Niki cracks open the safe. The leader of the crew, Uri (Lior Raz, of “Fauda”), gives him his card in case Niki wants to make some “real money.” Uri also gives Niki some cash for his help with the heist. Wanting to help out Harry and Marla, Niki becomes part of the crew to earn the money to pay off Harry’s debt.
I won’t say any more about the plot, but the remainder is about the developing romance between Ruthie and Niki. It also becomes a thriller related to the robberies. The soundtrack is critical, since there is beautiful newly-composed classical music, and Roher dramatically increases or muffles the sound, so at times one can experience the world through Niki’s ears. (At the start of the film I even complained to the manager of the theater that there was something wrong with the sound system. They re-booted it, but it wasn’t a technical problem, rather a creative aspect of the movie.)
Bottom Line: “Tuner” is “pitch-perfect!”
