Martin's Musings

The metaphor is almost too obvious.

In Daniel Roher’s Tuner, Leo Woodall plays Niki, a talented young piano tuner whose life is complicated by hyperacusis, a neurological condition that causes everyday sounds to be perceived as painfully loud or overwhelming. To cope, he wears a hearing aid. When things are less predictable, he wears special noise-cancelling headphones.

The film is hitting theaters at the start of the summer movie season, a time of year when loud and overwhelming are kind of the trend, and when more delicate sounds — the kind Niki helps clients preserve — require a more trained ear.

In that same spirit, Tuner is counter-programming for moviegoers with slightly more refined tastes, a film that stands out among the usual summer offerings at the multiplex.