Netflix’s 'The Piano Lesson' Blends Family Legacy and Supernatural Drama

Malcolm Washington's adaptation of August Wilson's play explores intergenerational trauma, spirituality, and the power of ancestral connection.

The film, directed by Malcolm Washington, is based on August Wilson's Pulitzer Prize-winning 1987 play and centers on a family’s struggle over a piano with deep historical significance.
Danielle Deadwyler and John David Washington lead the cast as siblings Berniece and Boy Willie, whose conflicting views on the piano’s future drive the emotional and dramatic tension.
The piano, intricately carved with depictions of the family’s enslaved ancestors, symbolizes the family’s legacy and unresolved trauma, becoming a focal point for supernatural and spiritual elements in the story.
The adaptation amplifies the ghostly and spiritual aspects of the narrative, with haunting sequences that highlight themes of ancestral connection and healing from generational pain.
Critics have praised Deadwyler’s performance as the emotional core of the film, alongside the ensemble cast, which includes Samuel L. Jackson, Ray Fisher, and Corey Hawkins.