Now this is ripe with tension, and you’ll understand why once you’ve watched it, and my first encounter with Director/co-writer Malcolm Washington‘s The Piano Lesson, itself an adaptation of August Wilson‘s play.

This is Washington’s feature directorial debut, co-written with Virgil Williams and features a stellar cast including Samuel L. Jackson, John David Washington, Ray Fisher, Michael Potts, Erykah Badu, Skylar Aleece Smith, Jerrika Hinton, Gail Bean, with Danielle Deadwyler and Corey Hawkins, and it’s produced by Denzel Washington and Todd Black.

For some insight, The Piano Lesson explores the inter-generational dynamics of identity, resilience and transcendence – revealing startling truths about how we perceive the past and who gets to define our legacy…. it’s powerful work just from this first look below and, also, Washington had this to say:

“I honor the spirit of August Wilson and the legacy he left behind for all of us. A legacy that thrives in the power of Danielle Deadwyler’s Berniece, the dynamism of John David Washington’s Boy Willie, and the understated brilliance that is Samuel L. Jackson’s Doaker.”

“Every family has a history, stories from the past that inform the present; an origin story. Ultimately this story is much bigger than me and my family — it, like the Black American experience, is an interconnected web of stories that span space and time. I hope that when audiences experience our film, they see themselves on the screen and hear the voices of their ancestors calling to them, offering peace and protection.”

The Piano Lesson comes to cinemas on 8 November, with a Netflix release due on 22 November, with a Toronto Film Festival special presentationon 10 September

www.netflix.com/ThePianoLesson