The Piano Lesson

As a ghost story that’s more natural than supernatural, The Piano Lesson is a searing Depression-era domestic drama that rarely hits a false note.

Infusing familiar themes with rich sociocultural specificity, this adaptation of a Pulitzer-winning August Wilson play is keenly insightful as a bittersweet examination of family legacies, generational strife, and letting go of the past.

The story is set primarily in 1936 in Wilson’s native Pittsburgh, specifically inside the modest home Doaker (Samuel L. Jackson) shares with his niece, Berniece (Danielle Deadwyler) and her young daughter.

Their routine is upended with the unannounced arrival of Berniece’s brother, known as Boy Willie (John David Washington), a charismatic charmer who drives a truck and sells watermelons alongside his quiet friend Lymon (Ray Fisher).

Willie’s appearance immediately causes friction with widow and single mother Berniece, burdened by tragedy and a crisis of faith. “The only thing you ever had going for you is talk,” she argues.

As unresolved hostilities eventually bubble to the surface, the family is visited by Doaker’s drinking buddy (Michael Potts) and by a preacher (Corey Hawkins) with eyes for Berniece.

Willie’s intentions become clear when discussing the ornate piano that has been in Doaker’s house as a family heirloom for decades. Willie schemes to sell it to buy land and help the family increase its wealth, but Berniece recognizes the sentimental value.

Doaker tries to intervene, as do specters driven by family legends. Indeed, each of the characters is haunted by divergent views of history that fuel ulterior motives. Washington (Tenet) leads a stellar ensemble cast as a big dreamer whose brash optimism masks inner turmoil.

The film is immersed in amber-hued period atmosphere, with its working-class aesthetic and uneasy racial dynamics.

Rookie director Malcolm Washington, son of Denzel and brother of John David, is reverent to the source material while also endeavoring to free it from its stagebound roots. Denzel Washington, of course, directed a superb cinematic adaptation of Wilson’s play Fences in 2016.

The uneven screenplay features significantly more talk than action but the dialogue crackles. Doaker’s extended story about the antecedence and significance of the piano itself is riveting.

Although it sometimes lacks subtlety and surprise, and its episodic structure yields some awkward tonal shifts, The Piano Lesson is powered by strong performances and a story that still resonates.

Rated PG-13, 125 minutes.