SUNDANCE: ‘Tuner’ Is A Festival Stunner

Tuner (2025) was one of my first films screened at the 2026 Sundance Film Festival, and its genre-bending approach to storytelling set the tone of the fest. Written and directed by Daniel Roher (co-written with Robert Ramsey), Tuner (2025) is the filmmaker’s debut feature (non-documentary) that effortlessly moves from a feel-good rom-com to a heist thriller. 

Niki (Leo Woodall) is a New York piano tuner working with his mentor and father figure, Harry (Dustin Hoffman). Gifted with perfect pitch since childhood, Niki was a child prodigy until he developed a hearing problem.  For the tuner, the world is a noisy place. With perfect pitch came hyperacusis, which Niki describes as being allergic to sound. 

Equipped with earplugs or noise-canceling headphones, Niki’s profession still requires him to hear. His tuning is close to perfect, but even the slightest sounds around him can make it impossible to work or even exist in a space. But with Harry’s help, he navigates the world with a timid confidence. 

Conducting harmony with charming romance and thrilling heists.

But when Harry forgets the combination to his safe, Niki realizes that his hindrance is actually perfect for cracking safes without any other equipment. Tuner (2025) doesn’t just stay in this one mode; the genre-hybrid film transforms into a romantic comedy when Niki meets Ruthie (Havana Rose Liu), a dedicated grad student whose dream is to become an apprentice for one of the world’s most prominent composers. 

Niki’s romance starts, but so does the money trouble. As Harry’s medical bills pile up, Niki begins to descend into a criminal rabbit hole, stealing small items from the rich while working with a security company. Still, there is no malice in Niki’s approach; he second-guesses every job he works on.

Tuner (2025) navigates multiple genres in perfect harmony, introducing chaos at the crescendo and laying its audience down into an emotional pool to close it out. Bypassing oversentimentality, the film doesn’t shy away from heartfelt moments, but it never overwhelms you with them.

Tuner’s ensemble cast chemistry is what makes its genre exploration work, from Dustin Hoffman to Havana Rose Liu.

Instead, the film feels lived-in, and that’s thanks to Woodall as Niki. There is a tenderness to his performance that comes through in everything he does, even in dire straits. Even in its overly sentimental moments, Woodall’s tempered performance always hits the right note. 

Tuner gives audiences the best elements of each genre it embraces. It’s a great romantic comedy with stellar chemistry and humor between Niki and Havana Rose Liu‘s Ruthie. Their romance is empathetic, snarky, and entirely endearing as the two balance each other out. 

Niki has perfect pitch and can help Ruthie finish her composition by spotting blind spots, even though he hasn’t been able to do more than tune pianos for years. But with that critique comes an appreciation and respect that suits Niki’s drive and determination as a composer. Their work consumes both Niki and Ruthie, though what that work is differs between them. 

Leo Woodall as Niki perfectly navigates Tuner’s multiple genres.

Tuner (2025) is also an interesting heist movie once Niki discovers his special talent, even if it does get tropey. Each time Niki cracks a safe, there is a moment of hesitation where you can tell that he is judging if he needs to do this. Does he need to keep breaking into safes? And with a mountain of medical debt, the answer is always yes, even if Niki almost always looks anxious and uncomfortable. 

Finally, the dramatic elements of Tuner (2025) offer a thrilling layer of emotion and danger. On the personal front, Harry’s deteriorating health shows Niki’s vulnerability. Harry is a surrogate father to him, a crucial piece of his life, and even when Niki does what he can to get his mentor the medical health he needs, it may not matter. Add in the fact that the heists are getting larger, more dangerous, and causing even larger secrets to form, and Niki’s life is constantly on the edge of blowing up. 

The blend of genres creates a film that is both endearing and entertaining. It’s better as a whole than its parts, and it showcases Roher’s deft use of situational humor and tension to drive the film’s narrative forward. But what sells the film’s atmosphere is the film’s sound design and Will Bates’ score. 

Tuner (2025) does a lot with a little, always putting the audience into Niki’s perspective.

Given sound’s pivotal role in Tuner (2025), it should come as no surprise that Niki’s perspective is shaped by how he hears the world. Through elements such as high-pitched ringing and muffled audio, the sound design challenges the audience to understand each situation as Niki does. This drives the tension in the film’s third act while also fostering its tenderness, helping us get to know him in the first two acts. 

Additionally, piano and jazz are as much storytelling elements as any line of dialogue or situation. The piano compositions all highlight how music connects people and how the pianists connect with their emotions. There are anger, love, grief, and hope on the keys. And that is shown no better than in the film’s final piano performance. 

Tuner (2025) is a good time at the movies, but it’s also a thoughtful one. With a tearful ending that brings the story together perfectly, the film delivers to audiences a rom-com-heist thriller that is deeply about belonging and love as much as it’s about a man who can crack safes. 

Tuner (2025) screened as a part of the 2026 Sundance Film Festival.