Netflix film “The Piano Lesson”, which was released on last Friday, is about a little but complex family issue surrounding one old piano. Although it feels rather contrived during its second half as veering off a bit from what has been carefully built up to that point, the movie still engages us with some powerful moments, and it is also supported well by a bunch of talented performers who often shine in each own moment.

Based on August Wilson’s Pulitzer-winning play of the same name, which is one of his ten plays collectively called “The Pittsburgh Cycle”, the story is mainly unfolded inside a house located in one African American neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in 1936. In this house, a young widow named Bernice Charles (Danielle Deadwyler) lives along with her little daughter Maretha (Skylar Aleece Smith) and her old uncle Doaker (Samuel L. Jackson), and they are visited by an unexpected guest on one day. That person in question is Bernice’s brother Boy Willie (John David Washington), and he and his friend Lymon (Ray Fisher) come for a certain purpose besides selling a heap of watermelons in their truck.

That purpose of his is not so welcomed by Bernice at all. Boy Willie wants to sell an old piano in Bernice’s house for getting enough money for buying a valuable piece of land in their hometown in Mississippi, but Bernice is absolutely against that even though she seldom touches the piano. As already shown in the prologue scene, their father stole it from some rich white guy whose family was associated with their family via slavery, and we later come to learn more about how much it meant to him and his family as a record of their family history.

As Bernice and Boy Willie keep arguing with each other during next several days, we come to see more of how both of them have good points for their respective positions. While Bernice cares more about remembering and preserving the painful past of their family members, Boy Willie simply regards the piano as a mere means for going up further for more chances and possibilities in the future, and he is quite determined to take away the piano no matter how much he will clash with his sister for that.

As this personal clash of theirs is continued throughout the story, we also get to know about several other characters in the story. When their another uncle Wining Boy (Michael Potts) comes, the mood becomes lightened up a bit as he drinks along with Doaker, Lymon, and Boy Willie, and this culminates to one impromptu musical moment to remember. In case of Bernice’s suitor Avery (Corey Hawkins), who is soon going to be a pastor, it is clear that he wants to marry her as soon as possible, but Bernice still wants to wait more to his frustration, and then there comes an unexpected moment between her and Lymon, who turns out to be a lot more tender and sensitive than he seemed at first.        

Meanwhile, the possible existence of ghostly entities comes to hover around the story and characters. There are frequent conversations about whether that rich white guy was killed by some old local ghosts instead of just having an unfortunate accident, and then it seems that Bernice’s house is being haunted by the ghost of that rich white guy. Regardless of whether this is merely the imagination of Bernice and her daughter, this possibility becomes all the more palpable to everyone in the house – especially when Boy Willie comes to show more determination about taking away the piano.

 Around that narrative point, the screenplay by director Malcolm Washington and his co-writer Virgil Williams adds some modification to the final part of Wilson’s play for extra dramatic tension. Considering that the ending of Wilson’s play feels rather uncertain and ambiguous, that is an understandable choice, but I am not so sure about whether it works as well as intended, because it looks more like belonging to “The Conjuring” (2013) than Wilson’s play.  

Nevertheless, the movie remains anchored by the strong performances from its terrific main cast members. John David Washington, who has been a promising actor to watch during last several years, looks a little strained whenever his character tries to enforce his will in front of Bernice and others, but his performance gradually gets mixed well into the ensemble in the end, and the result is another solid turn in his advancing acting career. On the opposite, Danielle Deadwyler, who was magnificent in Chinonye Chukwu’s underrated film “Till” (2022), has a superb moment where she ably handles her character’s monologue at one point in the middle of the story, and she is certainly a formidable match for Washington. In case of several other main cast members, Samuel L. Jackson and Micheal Potts are reliable as usual, and Ray Fisher, Erykah Badu, Skylar Aleece Smith, Stephan James, and Corey Hawkins are well-cast in their respective supporting roles.     

In conclusion, “The Piano Lesson” is not wholly without weak aspects, and it is one or two steps below the achievements of “Fences” (2016) and “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” (2020), which are based on the two other notable works of “The Pittsburgh Cycle”. Anyway, Malcolm Washington, who is incidentally another son of co-producer Denzel Washington besides John David Washington, makes a commendable debut here, and he and his crew members including cinematographer Mike Gioulakis and editor Leslie Jones did a good job of presenting the story and characters well on the screen without feeling stagy at all. Despite some dissatisfaction, I recommend the movie mainly for its mostly competent storytelling and a number of good performances to watch, and it is surely something worthwhile to watch for you if you admired those two aforementioned movies.