Close Menu
  • Login
  • Support Us
  • Newsletter
  • News
  • Features
  • Interviews
  • Reviews
    • Video Games
      • Previews
      • PC
      • PS5
      • Xbox Series X/S
      • Nintendo Switch
      • Xbox One
      • PS4
      • Tabletop
    • Film
    • TV
    • Anime
    • Comics
      • BOOM! Studios
      • Dark Horse Comics
      • DC Comics
      • IDW Publishing
      • Image Comics
      • Indie Comics
      • Marvel Comics
      • Oni-Lion Forge
      • Valiant Comics
      • Vault Comics
  • Podcast
  • More
    • Event Coverage
    • BWT Recommends
    • RSS Feeds
Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram
Support Us
But Why Tho?
RSS Facebook X (Twitter) YouTube
Trending:
  • Features
    Marvel's Spider-Man Secret Lair promotional image

    Get a Look At the Secret Lair x Marvel’s Spider-Man Superdrop

    09/08/2025
    Starseeker: Astroneer Expeditions gameplay still

    Starseeker: Astroneer Expeditions Is All About Adventure (with Friends)

    09/08/2025
    Chord in Persona 5 The Phantom X

    Now Is The Perfect Time To Jump Back In ‘Persona 5: The Phantom X’

    09/05/2025
    Cosmic Spider-Man card details

    [EXCLUSIVE PREVIEW] The Spider-Man Set Gets A 5-Color Legendary Spider

    09/02/2025
    Lee Corso from College Football GameDay in EA Sports games

    EA Sports Always Understood Lee Corso’s Legacy

    09/01/2025
  • Indie Games
  • K-Dramas
  • Netflix
  • Apple TV+
But Why Tho?
Home » Film » REVIEW: ‘The Piano Lesson’ Is Netflix’s Best

REVIEW: ‘The Piano Lesson’ Is Netflix’s Best

Kate SánchezBy Kate Sánchez12/03/20244 Mins ReadUpdated:12/16/2024
The Piano Lesson - Netflix
Share
Facebook Twitter Pinterest Reddit WhatsApp Email

Period horror stories can be some of the best. The lack of technology pushes filmmakers and writers to craft stories bound by the limits of the imagination, with characters who use emotive tethers with the audience to make us feel something. Whether it’s fear, catharsis, or resolution, that’s the beauty that the genre brings. The Piano Lesson (2024), the latest adaptation of an August Wilson play from Netflix, embodies the beauty of horror through the complexities of people.

The film’s structure doesn’t immediately raise alarm bells. In The Piano Lesson, a family clashes over an heirloom piano. Brother Boy Willie (John David Washington) and sister Berniece (Danielle Deadwyler) fight to keep or sell the piece of family history. Carved into the piano is a history of the Charles Household, and the conflict in the film is the idea of the past. Are we beholden to the people who came before us? Do they help us? Or are we haunted?

Get BWT in your inbox!

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter and get the latest and greated in entertainment coverage.
Click Here

Get BWT in your inbox!

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter and get the latest and greated in entertainment coverage.
Click Here

The Piano Lesson offers a somber look at legacy without losing a strong hold on hope as the Charles household comes together through the worst of times. Boy Willie wants to sell the piano, make a fortune, buy farmland, and become someone. He wants to escape where they are, move forward, and leave the past in the past. Berniece, on the other hand, is dedicated to doing anything necessary to preserve the very last piece of the Charles family heritage. To her, the piano is the family.

The Piano Lesson is about family and the complexities it brings to who we are.

The Piano Lesson - Netflix

Between them, their uncle Doaker (Samuel L. Jackson) tries to mediate, but he can’t even hold back the ghosts of the past as they start to bubble to the surface. Over time, we meet new faces at the Charles home. We hear music and see joy. We see anger and worry.

We watch a family struggle to reckon with who they were and are now. A look at resiliency and how different generations leave struggle and brilliance for those who come next, The Piano Lesson offers transcendence, just not in the way you might think at the beginning.

At its core, the film reveals startling truths about how we perceive the past and who gets to define our legacy. It holds nothing back while tasking its characters with the daunting task of looking in a mirror. While the film may be a period story, it is timeless.

The Piano Lesson captures the worry of being stuck and, more importantly, the realization that the histories that live inside us hold both painful stories and resilient tales of triumph. But we only see both if we choose to listen.

A directorial debut for Malcolm Washington, The Piano Lesson is co-written by Virgil Williams and Malcolm Washington, with Denzel Washington and Todd Black serving as the film’s producers. A monumental debut feature film, it also stars Samuel L. Jackson, Ray Fisher, Michael Potts, Erykah Badu, Skylar Aleece Smith, and Corey Hawkins.

Danielle Deadwyler and John David Washington are exquisitely powerful.

The Piano Lesson - Netflix

I dare you to press play, not hum along, not hold your breath, or feel relief in the film’s finale. Musically, The Piano Lesson stands heads and tails above other scores this year, so much so that I wish I could have experienced it in a theater.

But the score and the music succeed because of the people. The characters make the score electric, bringing Alexandre Desplat’s compositions to life. The film is kinetic and dynamic and reveals the multitude of emotions that run through one house and the generations that call it home.

The Piano Lesson is the best-acted film, thanks to Danielle Deadwyler and John David Washington. The duo seals in the film’s timeless magic, which echoes deeply from screen to heart. An adaptation of August Wilson’s Pulitzer Prize-winning masterwork, The Piano Lesson is one of Netflix’s most beautiful and emotive films.

The Piano Lesson (2024) is streaming now exclusively on Netflix.

The Piano Lesson
  • 10/10
    Rating - 10/10
10/10

TL;DR

The Piano Lesson is the best horror film of the year, but even beyond its genre, it is the best-acted film, thanks to Danielle Deadwyler and John David Washington.

Share. Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn WhatsApp Reddit Email
Previous ArticleREVIEW: ‘Star Wars: Skeleton Crew’ Season Premiere Shows Promise
Next Article REVIEW: ‘Yakuza Fiancé: Raise wa Tanin ga Ii’ Episode 9 — “To Be Honest, I Want to Marry You, Part Two”
Kate Sánchez
  • Website
  • X (Twitter)
  • Instagram

Kate Sánchez is the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of But Why Tho? A Geek Community. There, she coordinates film, television, anime, and manga coverage. Kate is also a freelance journalist writing features on video games, anime, and film. Her focus as a critic is championing animation and international films and television series for inclusion in awards cycles. Find her on Bluesky @ohmymithrandir.bsky.social

Related Posts

The Long Walk (2025) film review promotional image
9.5

REVIEW: ‘The Long Walk’ Is The Most Heartfelt And Heartbreaking Stephen King Adaptation

09/11/2025
Natasha O’Keeffe in Whitetail
6.5

TIFF 2025: ‘Whitetail’ Is An Intimate View Of A Woman Stuck In Time

09/10/2025
Love Brooklyn
6.0

REVIEW: ‘Love, Brooklyn’ Rests on Pretty

09/10/2025
Park Jeong-min in The Ugly
7.0

TIFF 2025: ‘The Ugly’ Is A Harsh Exercise In Self-Reflection

09/09/2025
No Other Choice
9.0

TIFF 2025: ‘No Other Choice’ Delivers a Bleak Vision of Capitalism

09/09/2025
Molly Lewis in Whistle
8.0

TIFF 2025: ‘Whistle’ Is A Breath Of Fresh Air

09/07/2025

Get BWT in your inbox!

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter and get the latest and greated in entertainment coverage.
Click Here
TRENDING POSTS
The Long Walk (2025) film review promotional image
9.5
Film

REVIEW: ‘The Long Walk’ Is The Most Heartfelt And Heartbreaking Stephen King Adaptation

By Kate Sánchez09/11/2025Updated:09/11/2025

The Long Walk is a brutal watch. Equally heartfelt and heartbreaking, it’s one of the best adaptations of Stephen King’s work.

Black Women Anime — But Why Tho (9) BWT Recommends

10 Black Women in Anime That Made Me Feel Seen

By LaNeysha Campbell11/11/2023Updated:12/03/2024

Black women are some of anime’s most iconic characters, and that has a big impact on Black anime fans. Here are some of our favorites.

EA Sports FC Icons Match promotional image from Nexon News

2025 Icons Match Returns With Football Legends Bridging The Pitch And Video Games

By Kate Sánchez09/03/2025Updated:09/03/2025

NEXON has announced the return of the ‘2025 Icons Match,’ a live event that brings a full roster of legendary players to the pitch.

Gojo Jujutsu Kaisen - But Why Tho (2) Features

Everything To Know About Satoru Gojo

By Kate Sánchez09/07/2023Updated:02/16/2025

Satoru Gojo is the heart of Jujutsu Kaisen Season 2 — now, heading into Cour 2, here is everything you need to know about the character.

But Why Tho?
Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram Pinterest RSS YouTube Twitch
  • CONTACT US
  • ABOUT US
  • PRIVACY POLICY
  • SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER
  • Review Score Guide
Sometimes we include links to online retail stores. If you click on one and make a purchase we may receive a small contribution.
Written Content is Copyright © 2025 But Why Tho? A Geek Community

Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.

But Why Tho Logo

Support Us!

We're able to keep making content thanks to readers like YOU!
Support independent media today with
Click Here