The film 'Tuner'—a 2025 crime thriller directed by Canadian filmmaker Daniel Rocher—will be screened at the Arasbaran Culture Center in Tehran on Sunday evening. A discussion with film critic Kourosh Jahad is scheduled after the screening.
Plot of 'Tuner'
The film 'Tuner' merges the worlds of classical music and organized crime. It tells the unusual story of a talented piano tuner whose exceptional sensitivity to sounds turns him into an unexpected safe cracker.
The screenplay was written by Rocher in collaboration with Robert Ramsey. The film stars Leo Woodall as Nicky White, alongside Havana Rose Liu, Dustin Hoffman, Lior Raz, Tovah Feldshuh, and Jean Reno.
Nicky is a young piano tuner and former musician who works as an apprentice to Harry Horowitz (Hoffman), an experienced tuner who was also a close friend of Nicky's late father. Nicky's career as a pianist was interrupted by hyperacusis, a condition that makes ordinary noises unbearably loud. Despite needing to protect his ears from noise, his heightened hearing gives him a unique ability: he can discern the mechanisms inside safes and eventually learns how to open them.
Nicky first discovers this talent after Harry forgets the combination to his own safe. What begins as a personal favor soon becomes an opportunity for easy money. While working in a wealthy client's home, Nicky accidentally encounters a group of Israeli thieves and demonstrates his ability to crack safes. Their leader, Uri, sees potential in him and offers him a job.
Simultaneously, Nicky begins a relationship with Ruthie, an ambitious young pianist and composer. His connection with her gradually brings him back into the musical world he was forced to leave. However, when Harry suffers a heart attack and rising medical expenses threaten his future, Nicky accepts Uri's offer and joins criminal activities.
Involvement in Crime and Consequences
Working with Uri, Yoni, and Benny, Nicky uses his specialized hearing to infiltrate the safes of wealthy homeowners. His involvement deepens when the group connects with Korean criminals seeking access to a cryptocurrency fortune worth over $18 million. After Harry's death, Nicky tries to distance himself from the criminal world, but Uri refuses to let him go. This refusal provokes a dangerous confrontation that ultimately leaves Nicky seriously injured and partially deaf.
Nevertheless, the trauma changes Nicky's life unexpectedly. No longer overwhelmed by ordinary sounds, he can finally exist without the ear protection that defined much of his life. In the emotional climax of the film, he returns to the piano and performs again after years away from the instrument.
'Tuner' was included in the 'Top Ten of Canada' list at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2025. Rocher and Ramsey also received the Vancouver Film Critics Award for Best Screenplay of a Canadian Film, and Woodall received a nomination for Best Actor in a Canadian Film.
By combining music, crime, and the protagonist's sensory experience, 'Tuner' offers an original take on the crime thriller genre, placing at the center of the story the protagonist's lost and rediscovered relationship with music.