Highest 2 Lowest

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Highest 2 Lowest

R

In Theaters Fri Aug 15

2h 13m

Mystery & Thriller

Crime

Drama

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89%

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37 Reviews

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When a titan music mogul (Denzel Washington), widely known as having the "best ears in the business", is targeted with a ransom plot, he is jammed up in a life-or-death moral dilemma. Brothers Denzel Washington and Spike Lee reunite for the 5th in their long working relationship for a reinterpretation of the great filmmaker Akira Kurosawa's crime thriller High and Low, now played out on the mean streets of modern day New York City.

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Denzel Washington

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Robbie Collin

Daily Telegraph (UK)

This fifth Lee-Washington collaboration is the sort of luxurious gloss-and-grit thriller that was once a studio staple back in the brontosaurus-infested swamps of the late 20th century...

Rated: 4/5

Jun 16, 2025

Full Review

John Bleasdale

Time Out

Lee has made stunningly good crime thrillers – Clockers and 25th Hour – but like his protagonist, here he appears to be struggling to stay relevant and still use his own unique voice.

May 23, 2025

Full Review

Rory Doherty

AV Club

This thriller positions two men of ambition against each other, exposing the old guard’s vulnerabilities so that, through a suspense plot, they can work through their insecurities and triumphantly refuse to capitulate to insolent young upstarts.

Rated: B

May 21, 2025

Full Review

Siddhant Adlakha

IGN Movies

Begins as an austere class melodrama, but soon gives way to some of the most exciting, visceral images of Spike Lee’s career.

Rated: 9/10

Jul 8, 2025

Full Review

Farah Cheded

Film Daze

Though it’s not Lee's best, it’s perhaps the busiest movie he has made, and the first in a while to recapture the ecstatic tone of 25th Hour‘s rapturous final moments — meaning it ultimately lands closer to the first word of its title than the last.

Jun 12, 2025

Full Review

Àngel Quintana

Caimán Cuadernos de Cine

The thriller is the pretext that maintains the intrigue, but the most interesting aspect of the film are the footnotes, the ironic asides, and the twilight gaze that moves between the images. [Full review in Spanish]

Jun 3, 2025

Full Review

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Synopsis

When a titan music mogul (Denzel Washington), widely known as having the "best ears in the business", is targeted with a ransom plot, he is jammed up in a life-or-death moral dilemma. Brothers Denzel Washington and Spike Lee reunite for the 5th in their long working relationship for a reinterpretation of the great filmmaker Akira Kurosawa's crime thriller High and Low, now played out on the mean streets of modern day New York City.

Director: Spike Lee
Producer: Todd Black, Jason Michael Berman
Screenwriter: Alan Fox
Distributor: Apple Original Films
Production Co: Apple Original Films
Rating: R (Brief Drug Use|Language Throughout)
Genre: Mystery & Thriller, Crime, Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Aug 15, 2025, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Sep 5, 2025
Runtime: 2h 13m
Sound Mix: Dolby Digital
Aspect Ratio: Digital 2.39:1