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The Piano Lesson
Directed by
Malcolm Washington
PG-13
2024
2h 7m
Drama
,
Music
,
and more
6.2
88%
66%
Add to Watchlist
Follows the lives of the Charles family as they deal with themes of family legacy and more, in deciding what to do with an heirloom, the family piano.
More
Where to Watch The Piano Lesson
Netflix
Subscription
Netflix Basic with Ads
Subscription
Cast of The Piano Lesson
John David Washington
Boy Willie
Danielle Deadwyler
Berniece Charles
Samuel L. Jackson
Doaker Charles
Ray Fisher
Lymon
Michael Potts
Wining Boy
Corey Hawkins
Avery
Gail Bean
Dolly
Jerrika Hinton
Grace
Stephan James
Boy Charles
Skylar Aleece Smith
Maretha
Erykah Badu
Lucille
Malik J Ali
Willie Boy
Charity Jordan
Mama Berniece
Isaiah Gunn
Young Boy Willie
Matrell Smith
Crawley
Eilan Joseph
Papa Boy Walter
Pauletta Washington
Mama Ola
Olivia Washington
Young Mama Ola
Kylee D. Allen
Young Berniece
Deetta West
Mama Esther
Jay Peterson
James Sutter
David Atkinson
Robert Sutter
Tony Fox
Young Wining Boy
Melanie Jeffcoat
Miss Ophelia
Owen Harn
Joel Nolander
Charles Green
White Man
Saige Aristilde
Ancestor (uncredited)
Nigel Barto
Neighbor (uncredited)
Hasani Vibez
Young Factory Worker (uncredited)
Lovell Gates
Mr. V. (uncredited)
Gracie Jackline
Extra (uncredited)
Anna Mezentseva
Factory Worker (uncredited)
Zuri Parker
Ancestor (uncredited)
Trenton Schillinger
Factory Worker (uncredited)
Rob Wood
Musician (uncredited)
Shaun Woodbury
Townsperson (uncredited)
Scott Andersen
Patriot (uncredited)
The Piano Lesson Ratings & Reviews
disco_walker
February 15, 2025
Good story telling, though 25% too long. I thought it petered out rather than crescendoed.
ABC News
Peter Travers
Neither a filmed play nor an actual movie, the muddled screen version of August Wilson's great drama about systemic wrongs done to Black America is a mixed bag but also a stirring promise from producer Denzel Washington to preserve the work of a master.
Washington Post
Ty Burr
Those problems are twofold: direction that never finds a thematic through line or harnesses a consistent energy... and a lead performance by John David Washington that's pitched past the last row of the theater and lands somewhere in the next time zone.
RogerEbert.com
Peyton Robinson
Washington's film is composed out of empathy for all of its perspectives ... encompassing how our confrontation with Black history roots itself differently in different bodies.
Seattle Times
Moira MacDonald
The performances feel wonderfully lived-in, particularly Jackson's weary, noble Doaker and Deadwyler's brave, watchful Berniece.
AARP Movies for Grownups
Thelma Adams
The Piano Lesson lurches in tone from slavery-era memory drama to supernatural horror to fraught family face-offs, never fusing to create an organic piano concerto.
Chicago Sun-Times
Richard Roeper
Through it all, the actors deliver memorably strong work, and the words of Wilson ring loud and true.
FilmWeek (KPCC - NPR Los Angeles)
Christy Lemire
Everyone here is really good -- it's challenging material -- but I don't feel like it ever truly expands upon the fact that this is a play on film.
San Francisco Chronicle
Mick LaSalle
Over and over, Deadwyler is able to seem both open to people and yet full of so much rage that she could explode at any moment.
The Daily Beast
Nick Schager
An agonized drama about the burden of yesteryear and the conflicting ways to embrace and transcend it-one that's rich in character, conflict, detail, desire, and history.
Movie Mom
Nell Minow
Washington is a mesmerizing performer and his Boy Willie is electric, charismatic, and dangerous. Deadwyler has a quieter role, especially in the first half of the film, but gets a chance to show Berniece's fiery determination.
New York Times
Alissa Wilkinson
"The Piano Lesson" is the weakest of the Denzel Washington-produced Pittsburgh Cycle. But when you're working with Wilson's material, there's an inherent richness, and the questions this film raises have never been more potent.
Rolling Stone
David Fear
Yes, The Piano Lesson hits a few bum notes. Its melody nonetheless remains intact.
AV Club
Jacob Oller
In The Piano Lesson, August Wilson's ghosts are as tangible as they've ever been, and the film barely containing them is as weathered and tense as any family in need of a séance.
TIME Magazine
Stephanie Zacharek
There's a lot going on in The Piano Lesson, and it's occasionally challenging to keep track of the story's multiple strands. But by keeping Deadwyler's face in sight, you can never lose your way.
Observer
Oliver Jones
August Wilson's 1987 play is opened up in ways that that work-and some that don't-in this beautifully acted film adaptation.
Newsday
Robert Levin
A first-rate adaptation.
HuffPost
Candice Frederick
But so much of the film is like inside baseball for people who already have seen this story in its many other forms. Neither the performances nor August Wilson are done justice here.
Detroit News
Adam Graham
And the movie's turn toward supernatural horror feels like an abrupt shift in tone, a too literal illustration of the film's haunting themes.
The Atlantic
Hannah Giorgis
Netflix's adaptation faithfully renders this concern for the quotidian, albeit with a more stylish patina. Malcolm's directorial choices diverge from his father's old-school creative sensibilities; the pacing is faster, the music more dramatic.
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