Daniel Roher attends the Tuner Premiere during the 2026 Sundance Film Festival at Eccles Theatre on January 22, 2026 in Park City, Utah. (Photo by Neilson Barnard/Getty Images)
By Adam Silverstein
There's a moment before the first screening of Tuner at the Eccles Theatre on opening day of the 2026 Sundance Film Festival where director Daniel Roher pauses, looks out at the packed room, and admits he might cry. There's a non-zero chance, he says, voice already catching. There's a lot going on in the world, people. It's his first time at the Festival in person - his documentary Navalny premiered virtually back in 2022 - and the pride, gratitude, and sheer relief of being here lands heavily. Roher dedicates the screening to his mentor, Rob Reiner, and Reiner's wife Michelle, sharing the advice from Reiner that's clearly been rattling around his head throughout the making of this film: create something people want to watch.
Tuner, which premieres in the Spotlight category, is a strange, funny, and surprisingly moving left turn for Roher - his first narrative feature after a defining run in documentary. Set in New York City, the film centers on Niki (Leo Woodall), a gifted piano tuner with an extreme auditory sensitivity that makes the world feel permanently too loud. He never takes his hearing aids off - It's hot, right? he jokes at one point - and the film cleverly pulls us into his experience of sound, using sharp shifts in volume and texture to make noise feel invasive, even painful.
Woodall, very much having a moment, gives Niki a wiry charm and a restless edge. He tunes pianos for the rich, the bored, and the self-absorbed - people who ask him to do the plumbing as he coaxes music back into their instruments - until a chance discovery reveals he has an uncanny ability to crack safes. It's a skill that pulls him into a shady security operation run by Uri (a slippery, watchful Lior Raz), and suddenly Niki is navigating a world far louder, riskier, and more morally compromised than the one he started in.
Dustin Hoffman and Leo Woodall in Tuner Anchoring all of this is Dustin Hoffman as Harry Horowitz, a bittersweet old piano tuner and Niki's reluctant mentor. Hoffman is flat-out hilarious here - the Eccles crowd roared at his best lines - but he also gives Harry a bruised tenderness, a sense of someone who knows exactly how small the margins are between success and obscurity. During the Q&A, Roher admits he'd never worked with actors before. They seemed strange to me, he says, laughing. Hoffman, it turns out, was anything but intimidating. He treated me like this was his big break. He called me sir.' He called me boss.'
The film's emotional center shifts when Niki begins tuning pianos for Ruthie (Havana Rose Liu), a sharp, searching presence who actually sees him. Their bond is tentative and intimate, and it grounds the film just as the plot begins to twist into darker territory. Tuner is funny, yes - often laugh-out-loud - but it's also unafraid to get bleak. It's a story about different worlds colliding, about how luck and desperation can blur into the same thing, and about how easy it is to slip into the wrong crowd when you're just trying to survive.
The Eccles buzzed throughout the screening - gasps at the turns the story takes, bursts of laughter at Hoffman's barbs - and when the credits rolled, the applause was loud and sustained. A killer score throbbed underneath it all, reinforcing the sense that this is, at its core, a movie about sound and the power it holds over us.
Roher speaks about being inspired by a friend of his wife's, who is a real-life piano tuner, and about resisting the idea that his career needs to stay neatly categorized. I don't want to be put in a box, he says, comparing this pivot to Bob Dylan going electric. Tuner is exactly that kind of move: risky, surprising, and alive with intent.
As applause rolled through the Eccles, it was hard not to think back to Rob Reiner's simple advice - create something people want to watch. Between the laughter, the gasps, and the buzz that followed the credits, Tuner proves that Roher heard him loud and clear.
Europe Stories
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
04/07/2026
April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...
01/06/2026
January 6 2026, 05:30 (PST) Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026
Throughout the week, Dolby brings to life the latest innovatio...
18/05/2026
Last night, the Spotify Podcast Awards in Mexico returned to the country's capital. Now in its second year, the evening honors creators whose voices are hel...
18/05/2026
ZEN-Core synth goes mobile
Roland's powerful ZEN-Core software synthesizer has just been introduced to the iPad, offering a convenient entry point into ...
18/05/2026
Versatile new limiter plug-in announced
Based in Sheffield, UK, fedDSP offer a range of plug-ins that span the music production, live sound and high-end med...
18/05/2026
A new use for convolution?
Viiri Audio's debut plug-in aims to do something a little different with convolution processing, allowing users to adjust all...
18/05/2026
18 May 2026
Dubai and New York, May 18, 2026 - VEON Ltd. (NASDAQ: VEON), a glob...
18/05/2026
Monday 18 May 2026
Sky News offers ad-free podcasts and bonus episodes for just...
18/05/2026
Comscore March 2026 Consumer AI Chatbot Usage Rankings Show Claude Gaining Share OpenAI's ChatGPT maintains lead while Anthropic's Claude continues to c...
16/05/2026
Helps to deliver a clean, balanced midrange
Developed alongside Newfangled Audio, the latest plug-in in Eventide's software collection has been designed...
16/05/2026
Brings onboard stem rendering to RANE System One
Engine DJ have just released Engine DJ 5.0, a free update for their Engine DJ OS embedded hardware and Engi...
15/05/2026
Last night, the Spotify Podcast Awards in Mexico returned to the country's capital. Now in its second year, the evening honors creators whose voices are hel...
15/05/2026
Rebranded show announced
Ahead of their 2026 return, Music Expo have announced that they have now officially changed their name to the MONO Music Conference...
15/05/2026
Fuzz pedal joins UK companys line-up
UK-based pedal makers Buzzing Bugs Audio Devices have recently unveiled their latest creation, the Bolster. Said to pay...
15/05/2026
Join Calrec at MPTS 2026 | May 13-14 | Stand A40 | Olympia, London We're looking forward to meeting up with customers and partners at this year's Media ...
15/05/2026
The six-part series is a co-commission with BritBox and Sony Pictures Television...
15/05/2026
Against that backdrop, IAB UK has added retail media to its Gold Standard. Jan Pitt, Commercial Director at ABC, spoke with Liv McCullagh, Retail Media Lead at ...
15/05/2026
Further to RT 's statement released yesterday and in the interest of full transparency, with the full permission of Derek Mooney, we are now publishing the ...
14/05/2026
At Spotify, we're focused on making every listening experience feel intentio...
14/05/2026
Spotify recently welcomed songwriters, artists, executives, and music students t...
14/05/2026
New articulations, ostinatos, Motion Scoring Articulation Sets & more
Sonuscore's flagship cinematic string library has just been treated to a significa...
14/05/2026
World-class studio opens on T rkiye's Aegean coast
P r Recording & Residence have announced their official opening, introducing a new world-class reside...
14/05/2026
Now supports channel layouts up to 9.1.6
Nugen Audio have just released an update for their AI-powered dialogue intelligibility and compliance tool. Set to ...
14/05/2026
New recordings & one-key chord tool
UVI have just announced the release of Orchestral Suite 2, a ground-up redesign of their all-in-one symphonic orchestra ...
14/05/2026
Two new arrivals & expanded factory content
Rob Papen's all-encompassing plug-in and virtual instrument collection has just been treated to another upda...
14/05/2026
Embed QR codes into DAW sessions
FSK Audio's latest plug-in doesn't process audio, but serves as an organisational tool that allows QR codes to be e...
14/05/2026
Rohde & Schwarz transforms spectrum complexity into situational awareness and ef...
14/05/2026
Rohde & Schwarz and Quantum Systems join forces to redefine EW and C-UAS-enabled...
14/05/2026
Rohde & Schwarz showcases STANAG aligned ARDRONIS Counter UAS capability at NATO...
14/05/2026
Code of Silence has won the BAFTA for Best Drama Series at Sunday night's ceremony at the Royal Festival Hall.
The series, starring Rose Ayling-Ellis and w...
14/05/2026
Vivid Broadcast was embracing remote production long before it became the industry norm. Now, with Calrec's True Control 2.0-enabled Argo M and Type R conso...
14/05/2026
Comscore Reports First Quarter 2026 ResultsRESTON, Va., May 14, 2026 Comscore, Inc. (Nasdaq: SCOR), a trusted partner for planning, transacting and evaluating...
14/05/2026
RT is today publishing the earnings of its top 10 highest-earning presenters for 2025, ahead of the publication of RT 's Annual Report 2025 later this year...
14/05/2026
What can I watch on UKTV and stream on U this week?
This week on UKTV and the free streaming service U, viewers can watch a range of new and returning programm...
14/05/2026
The high-stakes chase thriller from Oscar- and BAFTA-nominated writer Matt Charm...
14/05/2026
Back From The Brink airs Sunday 17 May and Sunday 24 May at 6.30pm on RT One an...
13/05/2026
13 May 2026
VEON Delivers Strong Start to 2026 1Q26: Revenue 17.0%, EBITDA 17...
13/05/2026
Thousands of props donated from Skys longest-running original seriesWednesday 13 May 2026
How a neon windmill from A League of Their Own ended up in a dogs'...
13/05/2026
SAN JOSE, Calif. - May 13, 2026 - Harmonic (NASDAQ: HLIT) today announced that I...
13/05/2026
A definitive portrait of one of Ireland's most influential musicians
New TV documentary airs Monday 18 May on RT One and RT Player at 9.35pm
Watch the...
12/05/2026
Spotify is where fans and artists come together, turning discovery into somethin...
12/05/2026
Features patented Marco-MMC clocking technology
Black Lion Audio's latest release combines the company's expertise in clocking with their renowned p...
12/05/2026
New Track Panel, sequencer upgrades & more
Following their recent public beta release, Reason Studios have announced the full release of Reason 14. With the...
12/05/2026
Rohde & Schwarz presents its advanced solutions for power electronics testing at...
12/05/2026
aconnic AG (ISIN: DE000A0LBKW6), Munich, has developed a modified fund raising p...
12/05/2026
FOX Announces Schedule for 2026-27 Season FOX'S POWERFUL NEW SERIES PIPELINE FUELS A BREAKOUT SEASON WITH RETURNING HITS AND BOLD NEW STORYTELLING ACROSS ...
12/05/2026
Customer demand for data continues to grow in the first quarter of 2026 at Magya...
Daniel Roher attends the Tuner Premiere during the 2026 Sundance Film Festival at Eccles Theatre on January 22, 2026 in Park City, Utah. (Photo by Neilson Barnard/Getty Images)
