‘Tuner’ is a sharply edited, highly polished crime drama that feels like a throwback to the kind of intelligent adult thrillers Hollywood used to make in the 1970s. What elevates it beyond a straightforward caper film is its social conscience and the way it places disability at the centre of the story. Niki (Leo Woodall), has a rare hearing condition that gives him an extraordinary ability to distinguish individual notes on a piano, even when they are played simultaneously. In that sense, the film itself hits all the right notes.

When his mentor, played by Dustin Hoffman, falls on hard times and ends up in hospital, Niki is drawn into increasingly questionable ways of making money. He is a perfectionist when it comes to his craft, but far less adept when dealing with people. Like the protagonist of ‘Baby Driver’, he moves through the world with headphones or earpieces constantly attached, and the film does an excellent job of placing us inside his perspective. We experience the same sensory disorientation he feels whenever sounds become distorted or overwhelming.

A few decades ago, one could easily imagine Sidney Lumet directing something like this. The premise is ingenious because Niki’s gifts as a piano tuner translate surprisingly naturally into the world of safe-cracking. The same precision, patience and ability to detect tiny variations in sound become tools for criminal activity.

What makes the film work is that Niki is fundamentally decent. He does bad things, but largely because he convinces himself that the victims are wealthy people who will never notice what has been taken. Many of the clients he encounters barely acknowledge his existence anyway. To them, the piano tuner is just another tradesman – someone who could tune a piano one moment and unblock a toilet the next.

As a result, ‘Tuner’ becomes one of those crime films where we find ourselves rooting for the criminals because they seem so modest and ordinary, especially when compared with the far more ruthless figures lurking in the background. There is always somebody worse around the corner.

What’s particularly impressive is the film’s balance. It feels like an arthouse picture in terms of its character detail and thematic concerns, yet it also has the pace, accessibility and entertainment value of a mainstream thriller. The result is a stylish, intelligent and thoroughly engaging crime drama that manages to feel both intimate and commercial at the same time.