THE PIANO LESSON is the most cinematic of the last three August Wilson adaptations but also the most uneven. Balancing between a family drama rooted in legacy and a spiritual ghost story, I found the former far more compelling. John David Washington delivers a performance that feels more suited for the stage, with its theatrical intensity aimed at the back row, while Samuel L. Jackson remains largely in the background. However, Ray Fisher is fantastic in a surprisingly nuanced and sympathetic performance and Danielle Deadwyler is nothing short of phenomenal. Commanding every scene she’s in with an entrancing presence, she inhabits decades of pain & responsibility in a performance we’ll be talking about the rest of the year.

Next Best Picture’s full review here

solid! I genuinely think the presentation of these plays is like...a vital American movie project, not to be corny

I need to go see a lot more live theater.

I hope in my lifetime I see danielle deadwyler become a oscar winner

you can really tell this was originally a play

i wanna trust someone like i trust danielle deadwyler to steal a scene

A lot of talking but not a whole lot of piano was actually played in the end.

could watch john david washington and danielle deadwyler yell at each other for hours

Didn't really know much about this, but you could definitely tell it was adapted from a play. Very dialogue driven with some really good performances. The pacing was a little bit all over the place, and it felt like some scenes just didn't lead to anything and were just there to be there. Also, I don't really know how I feel about that ending. It does enough to keep you engaged and has some great moments, but ultimately it just wasn't something that is going to be very memorable for me.

2024 Ranked

Crew member sitting next to me at the premiere pulled out his phone 5 mins in and started to crop and edit selfies he took on the red carpet step & repeat for like half an hour and then added them to his hinge profile. Didnt get any bites so he just started sending them to people in his text log after that. My nigga didn’t look up at the screen one time until the final 20 minutes lmao