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Highest 2 Lowest
American crime thriller film From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Highest 2 Lowest is a 2025 American neo-noir crime thriller film directed by Spike Lee from a screenplay by William Alan Fox. It is an English-language reinterpretation of Akira Kurosawa's 1963 Japanese film High and Low, itself loosely based on the 1959 novel King's Ransom by Ed McBain (Evan Hunter). The film stars Denzel Washington, Ilfenesh Hadera, Jeffrey Wright, ASAP Rocky, and Ice Spice (in her film debut).
Principal photography began in New York City in March 2024, and wrapped that May. Highest 2 Lowest had its world premiere out of competition of the Cannes Film Festival on May 19, 2025, and is scheduled be released theatrically in the United States by A24 on August 22, before it will be made available on Apple TV+ on September 5.[2]
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Premise
A modern-day reimagining of Akira Kurosawa's High and Low.
Cast
- Denzel Washington as David King
- Jeffrey Wright as Paul Christopher
- Ilfenesh Hadera as Pam King
- ASAP Rocky as Yung Felony
- Ice Spice as Marisol Cepeda
- Dean Winters as Det. Higgins
- John Douglas Thompson as Det. Earl Bridges
- LaChanze as Det. Bell
- Aubrey Joseph as Trey King
- Michael Potts as Patrick Bethea
- Wendell Pierce as Gabe
- Elijah Wright as Kyle Christopher
Eddie Palmieri, Anthony Ramos, and Rosie Perez appear as themselves.
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Production
Spike Lee received the original script by Alan Fox prior to the COVID-19 pandemic and was involved with rewriting it after Denzel Washington became attached to star.[3][4] In February 2024, the film was announced, to be produced by A24, Todd Black for Escape Artists, and Jason Michael Berman for Mandalay Pictures, with Lee as director and executive producer through his 40 Acres and a Mule Filmworks label.[5] It is the fifth collaboration between Lee and Washington, and their most recent since Inside Man (2006).[4] Ilfenesh Hadera, Jeffrey Wright, and Ice Spice joined the cast in the following months.[6][7][8] According to Lee, ASAP Rocky has the "main role" in the film.[4] Principal photography began in New York City on March 4, 2024, with Matthew Libatique as cinematographer, and wrapped on May 31.[9][10]
Release
In April 2025, Thierry Frémaux, artistic director of the Cannes Film Festival, confirmed that Highest 2 Lowest would be premiering out of competition at the Cannes Film Festival on May 19, 2025. The festival's official lineup announcement did not include the film as it was awaiting confirmation on Denzel Washington's attendance for the premiere.[11] The film will be released theatrically by A24 on August 22, before it is available to stream on Apple TV+ September 5.[5][12]
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Reception
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 89% of 36 critics' reviews are positive.[13] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 76 out of 100, based on 19 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.[14]
Robert Daniels of RogerEbert.com gave the film three and a half out of four stars and wrote, "[W]hile many will come to Highest 2 Lowest craving the angst of Kurosawa's masterpiece, for once Lee isn't setting out to copy what was great before. He is using the past as a starting point to launch into what may be the final phase of his career. He is wielding a plethora of inspirations—musical, cinematic, and historical—to reunite with an old friend. He is making a Spike Lee joint. And it's exceptional."[15]
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References
External links
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