August Wilson is a renowned American Black Playwright who has written about the Black experience in Pittsburgh in the 20th Century. A couple of his plays have been brought to the big screen in recent years, Fences and Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, by producer, director, and actor Denzel Washington. Now a third hits Netflix. The Piano Lesson is another film that explores similar themes as the others I mentioned with a bit of a horror twist to it.

Boy Willie (John David Washington) the son of Denzel, and his friend Lymon (Ray Fisher) steal a truck full of watermelons and go north to sell them to help finance a piece of land he is trying to buy. Once he gets to his uncle’s house, Dockery Charles (Samuel L Jackson) he notices there is a Piano there he thinks he can sell it and get the second part of the money he needs. The problem is Berniece (Danielle Deadwyler)) his sister has other things in mind for the old oak Piano with family carvings on it.

Like a lot of August Wilson plays, this film adapted from the play, is mostly set in one location. The House that Jackson and Deadwyler’s characters live in is the main setting. The thing about this house is it’s Haunted by the ghost of a previous owner. This leads to a lot of suspicious behavior around the house. People are paranoid and don’t know what to do. This is a surprising turn of events for an August Wilson play adaptation.  They usually don’t have supernatural elements to them. They’re more about interpersonal relationships. This one has some of that as well though.

With the dialogue of an August Wilson play you know you’re going to get a lot of deep conversation and arguments that mean something in the context of the story and movie. Washington and Deadwyler both have quite a few interactions with each other. There are some great monologues from each, but they’re not the only ones who get dialogue to chew on. The entire cast has their moments to shine and flex their muscles as actors. You can add Michael Potts, Stephen James, and Corey Hawkins all have supporting roles that complement the main stars of the film nicely.

I’m a big fan of a good period piece movie and this one has a fantastic vibe brought to the big screen and later Netflix by the other son of Denzel Washington, Malcolm Washington. He captured the early 20th century perfectly. He got the house, clothes, cars, and everything else that distinguished this era in American history. By having all the characters come and go and move around this house you get to see all the nuances that were put into the crafts in this film. I felt this was a real place.  I was completely brought into this place in time from the moment the movie started until it finished.

There have been awards talk about Deadwyler’s performance in this film. I thought she was good, but not as good as she was in Till the mother of the wrongly murdered son. She has a lot of emotions as this woman with some past trauma in her life. Which is why she’s so good as this character. Opposite Washington she is able to shine. They bring out the best in each other. They bicker and pick at one another which allows for the Wilson dialogue to be brought to the forefront. This is why these plays work so well as films. The dialogue is perfect for actors to shine by saying such amazing lines in these movies.

The Piano Lesson has a lot to say about life in the 1930’s involving Black communities and how they are perceived. How they are kept down and how it’s hard for them to try and move up in the world. Wilson’s dialogue is exceptionally acted out by Washington, Deadwyler, Jackson, and the rest of the stellar cast. The direction is fine with Malcolm Washington getting the vibe of what this story is. He got all the craft departments to do good work bringing this time in American history to the big screen. This is a good movie with a lot to say and a horror twist to it. It’s not going to blow most people away but I enjoyed it quite a bit.

4 stars

Dan Skip Allen