Tuner (2026)
Directed by Daniel Roher
A gifted piano tuner's meticulous skills for tuning pianos lead him to discover an unexpected aptitude for cracking safes, turning his life upside down.
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28 films that influenced Tuner
What critics say influenced Tuner
Tuner’s New York City backdrop and “white guy trying to make ends meet” premise is strongly reminiscent of Josh Safdie’s Marty Supreme, though the central romance and Roher’s sense of snappy fervor rather fall in line with Edgar Wright’s Baby Driver, minus the overt genre elements.
Taking more than a little inspiration from Edgar Wright’s Baby Driver, it’s a film where the sound design is unusually meaningful and immersive…
…a laid back Baby Driver by way of that other recent, highly nostalgic Jewish NYC crime caper, Caught Stealing…
He’s a mix of Baby from Baby Driver (has a special interest that functions like a superpower) and Hank Thompson from Caught Stealing (a former child prodigy haunted by a tragic past), but unlike those two, he’s thoroughly proactive in his decision-making.
There’s more than a passing nod to Edgar Wright’s Baby Driver in Tuner. But despite hitting many similar narrative beats, Roher’s movie finds its own distinct sound as the hum of an engine and the loud beats of pop and rock classics are replaced by softer piano tones, a sublime Jazz score, and the delightful performances of Leo Woodall, Dustin Hoffman, and a cracking ensemble.
More inspiration could have been taken from films like Baby Driver (dir. Edgar Wright, 2017)—especially as both stories are essentially “good-natured boy with an ear problem does crime, but for good reason.”
Tuner’s obviously indebted to Michael Mann’s Thief and Steven Soderbergh heist films, though intertextuality is always exciting to me.
…a neo-thriller comparable to classics such as Thief and Drive…
Think Caught Stealing, but more like Michael Mann’s Thief.
I could not help but compare it to two earlier heist films – Michel Mann's "Thief (!981)" and "Baby Driver (2017)" by Edgar Wright. Of the t here, "Thief" is the best.
On Soderbergh, rather than any one film
There’s an almost Soderberghian exactitude to the clockwork way that the story’s character beats and plot elements weave together.
Tuner’s obviously indebted to Michael Mann’s Thief and Steven Soderbergh heist films, though intertextuality is always exciting to me.
“Tuner” has the snap of a Steven Soderbergh crime caper, minus the pretension.
…molding his film, co-written with Robert Ramsey, into an engaging hybrid of crime drama and swoony rom-com, a la “Drive.”
…a neo-thriller comparable to classics such as Thief and Drive…
The film shares DNA with Baby Driver (2017) and Drive (2011), both of which use sound to pull focus on the tension and mood.
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There’s also a well timed use of Nina Simon’s Sinnerman – which notes John McTiernan’s The Thomas Crown Affair. That 1999 Pierce Brosnan/Rene Russo film was another New York set romantic thriller based around the world of high class thievery. The two films echo each other like a cinematic call and response across a 27 year age gap in a way that feels timeless.
…the film borrows familiar notes from The Thomas Crown Affair and Baby Driver…
…set to Nina Simone’s “Sinnerman,” a loud and clear heist film nod to 1999’s highly entertaining The Thomas Crown Affair remake…
Like “Marty Supreme” (2025), the Holocaust becomes the backstory of the film.
Marty Supreme of course plays the third note in this oddly overlapping cinematic chord this past year, though the relentless Safdie pitch would certainly shatter Niki’s eardrums…
Tuner’s New York City backdrop and “white guy trying to make ends meet” premise is strongly reminiscent of Josh Safdie’s Marty Supreme, though the central romance and Roher’s sense of snappy fervor rather fall in line with Edgar Wright’s Baby Driver, minus the overt genre elements.
La película encuentra un tono muy particular que recuerda, por momentos, al cine de los hermanos Safdie, aunque despojado de la ansiedad que caracteriza obras como Good Time o Uncut Gems.
Not since Whiplash has a film made audiences so aware of every note, key or click.
It’s genuinely Thief in the vein of Whiplash, with a lively, jazzy score, a great “Sinnerman” needle drop, and snappy editing.
I appreciated that the script resists taking their relationship down a “Sound of Metal”-style path, opting instead for something gentler and more understated.
The way sound is used reminds me a lot of what I loved about Darius Marder’s Sound of Metal (2019).
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…a laid back Baby Driver by way of that other recent, highly nostalgic Jewish NYC crime caper, Caught Stealing…
I was really let down by Darren Aronofsky’sCaught Stealing, a crime thriller set in New York City starring Austin Butler as an ordinary guy forced into the world of crime. In it, he must contend with his traumatic past as a former child prodigy whose life took a dark turn.
…after a while it starts feeling more like James Toback’s Fingers…