Spike Lee’s Highest 2 Lowest, his reimagining of Akira Kurosawa’s High and Low, proves how easily one of cinema’s greatest stories can be adapted to the modern era. The update doesn’t reinvent the wheel, but with Lee behind the camera and Denzel Washington in the lead, it’s both stylish and engrossing—one of the stronger Spike Lee movies of the century and one of the best Apple TV+ originals to date.
The structure of Kurosawa’s 1963 classic is largely intact, though the details are shifted to fit a contemporary New York backdrop. Denzel Washington plays David King, a titan of the music industry whose life unravels when his son Trey (Aubrey Joseph) and his driver Paul Christopher’s (Jeffrey Wright) son Kyle (Elijah Wright) are kidnapped. A ransom demand of $17.5 million follows, threatening to drain David’s fortune just as he’s trying to buy back control of his record label.
Complications mount when Trey is unexpectedly released—the kidnappers having mistaken the two boys. But the ransom demand remains, putting David in a crushing bind: pay nearly everything he has to save Paul’s son, or protect his own future at the cost of another father’s child. This moral dilemma is the heart of the film, and Washington delivers one of his best performances in years—controlled, magnetic, and layered with the kind of gravitas that has defined his career.
Lee’s direction thrives in the details. Even though much of Highest 2 Lowest takes place in offices and penthouses, the film pulses with the energy of New York. The intersections of film, music, and sports culture bleed through every frame, grounding the story in a city that feels alive. It’s unmistakably a Spike Lee joint, balancing taut suspense with cultural swagger.
If there’s a shortcoming, it’s that Lee softens some of the harder edges of Kurosawa’s original. The internal struggle of David’s choice is not as sharply drawn here, with more focus placed on the larger consequences than the psychological weight. The film has less of the raw intensity and more of Lee’s playful touch around the margins.
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Still, Highest 2 Lowest works as a modern thriller and a showcase for Denzel Washington and Jeffrey Wright, both in top form. It may not match the gut-punch of Kurosawa’s masterpiece, but it’s a compelling retelling that blends old-world storytelling with a distinctly modern rhythm.
Score: 7/10
Highest 2 Lowest (2025)
- Cast: Denzel Washington, Jeffrey Wright, Ilfenesh Hadera, Elijah Wright, Aubrey Joseph, A$AP Rocky, John Douglas Thompson
- Director: Spike Lee
- Genre: Crime, Drama, Thriller
- Runtime: 133 minutes
- Rated: R
- Release Date: August 15, 2025
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