US Edition'Highest 2 Lowest': Spike Lee and Denzel Washington Reunite in NYC Thriller
Spike Lee’s remake of Akira Kurosawa’s 1963 film stars Denzel Washington as a music mogul facing a $17.5 million ransom demand in a high-stakes thriller updated with a rap duel.
- Spike Lee's film Highest 2 Lowest, starring Denzel Washington, premieres in theaters on August 15, 2025, in New York City.
- The movie adapts Ed McBain's 1959 crime novel King's Ransom about a $17.5 million kidnapping ransom, with Lee updating Kurosawa's High and Low.
- Washington plays King, a wealthy executive whose son Kyle is kidnapped instead of his friend's Trey, while Elijah Wright plays his ex-con advisor amid a police chase during the Puerto Rican Day parade.
- Rated R for language and brief drug use, the 2:13 film received three out of four stars and features a rap duel and a high-energy orchestral score by Howard Drossin.
- Streaming on Apple TV+ from September 5, 2025, Highest 2 Lowest reflects Lee's focus on Black culture and artistic integrity while taking creative risks with mixed reviews.
13 Articles
13 Articles
Marin Independent Journal
‘Highest 2 Lowest’ review: Spike Lee and Denzel Washington re-team for a heist movie that pays off
The 1959 Ed McBain crime novel “King’s Ransom” has crossed the Pacific Ocean twice now, and its latest screen incarnation, “Highest 2 Lowest,” makes for a disarming hand-off from the stern gravity of Akira Kurosawa to the exuberant restlessness of Spike Lee. It’s also serious where it counts — in its reminder that cheapening a product, the thing you make, helps a bottom line only so long. In the McBain novel as well as the 1963 Kurosawa drama “H…
‘Highest 2 Lowest’ review: Spike Lee and Denzel Washington re-team for heist movie that pays off
The 1959 Ed McBain crime novel “King’s Ransom” has crossed the Pacific Ocean twice now, and its latest screen incarnation, “Highest 2 Lowest,” makes for a disarming hand-off from the stern gravity of Akira Kurosawa to the exuberant restlessness of Spike Lee. It’s also serious where it counts — in its reminder that cheapening a product, the thing you make, helps a bottom line only so long. In the McBain novel as well as the 1963 Kurosawa drama “H…
'Highest 2 Lowest' is a tour of Spike Lee's many influences : Pop Culture Happy Hour
Spike Lee's new crime thriller Highest 2 Lowest reunites him with his favorite leading man, Denzel Washington. The film is based on Akira Kurosawa’s classic High and Low, and it’s a tense story about a very rich man with a very big problem. Part morality play and part action movie, Washington plays a music mogul who confronts questions of responsibility and power when he believes his son has been kidnapped.Follow Pop Culture Happy Hour on Letter…
The film premiered in theaters on August 15th.
The Independent
The Independent (US)Spike Lee is a living master – so why does no one care about his new film?
‘Highest 2 Lowest’ is a punchy thriller with one of the world’s biggest actors, Denzel Washington, as its lead. Lee hasn’t lost his touch, writes Xan Brooks, but the world is forcing him out to the margins again
Coverage Details
Bias Distribution
- 40% of the sources lean Left, 40% of the sources are Center
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