I went into “The Piano Lesson” expecting a film a lot like “Fences,” another adaptation of an August Wilson play. But I came out with something different, for better and worse.

This star-studded adaptation of Wilson’s “The Piano Lesson” has a lot going for it, including some unexpected supernatural elements.

John David Washington stars as Boy Willie in his brother Malcolm Washington’s feature directorial debut. While I loved John David’s performances in other films like “BlackKklansman,” I felt like his performance came off a little cartoonish in “The Piano Lesson.”

Boy Willie has come to Pittsburgh from the rural South to sell some watermelon with his friend Lymon (Ray Fisher) and implore his sister, Berniece (Danielle Deadwyler) to sell the family piano so he can buy land where they grew up.

While Washington’s performance was a disappointment, the supporting work from Samuel L. Jackson, Michael Potts, Corey Hawkins and Fisher.

The film also made me realize I haven’t seen Stephan James light up the screen in a big way since his one-two punch of “If Beale Street Could Talk” and the show “Homecoming.” (His role in “The Piano Lesson” is small and has little or no dialogue.)

In a sea of male performances, Deadwyler rises to the top as Berniece. She also is rising to the top for me as a contender for Best Supporting Actress in this year’s awards season.

While this is a mostly well-done story, it still felt very much like a stage play, with the main set being Berniece’s house.

My other main detractor is the film’s mishandled dips into the supernatural. To me, they are the most interesting aspects of “The Piano Lesson,” and they get treated like a buried subplot for the majority of the film, until the climax.

Come for the Washington family passion project, stay for the always amazing Danielle Deadwyler and a supernatural take on the intergenerational trauma of the descendants of enslaved people.

Rating: 3.5/5