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Highest 2 Lowest
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Videos & Photos
- Trailer 1 (01:52)
Movie Info & Cast
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.
Cast
- Denzel Washington
- Ilfenesh Hadera
- Aubrey Joseph
- Jeffrey Wright
- Elijah Wright
- Rick Fox
- Rod Strickland
- Nuri Hazzard
- Jensen McRae
- A$AP Rocky
Moviegoers are saying
Spike Lee's 'Highest2Lowest' is a polarizing remake of Kurosawa's 'High and Low' that splits audiences down the middle - critics slam the disastrous first hour as 'some of the worst filmmaking of the year' with Hallmark Channel-level music, while defenders praise Lee's calculated trolling that transforms into cinematic brilliance. Denzel Washington delivers a powerhouse performance that many say single-handedly saves the film, with A$AP Rocky proving surprisingly effective in his role.
Top Mentions
Summary generated from the text of Atom User reviews
Letterboxd User Reviews
2.8
146.5K
48.4K
28.6K
- Aug 13, 2025
Idk if I hate anything as much as Spike Lee hates Boston
jonathan fujiiAug 12, 2025A pointless remake that does nothing but embarrass itself for most of it’s runtime. Kind of confused how someone as talented as Spike Lee was even behind this. I don't think they ever knew what this was trying to be, it is all over the place. The script is awful. The…
JPAug 24, 2025Spike sure made a lot of choices here and some work and some really do not but they’re all interesting But also truly what is up with the score
Patrick Willems - May 20, 2025
ice spice brought it
KarstenSep 19, 2025Alright boss, here's the score for your crime thriller movie. majestic and whimsical just like you asked for.
JakeMay 23, 2025The movie from Cannes I’ve been thinking about the most. Mostly because of how radically I went from, this is not very good to this might best movie I’ve seen this year? It’s kind of like watching the 2014-2015 Knicks play and then at halftime prime Ewing and Starks come…
Joe A - Aug 15, 2025
A strange movie that had me pinging between “What is he doing?” “Oh, is this actually great??” and finally, “Is that all?” Pitched as “A modern-day reimagining of Akira Kurosawa's High and Low,” this splices the Kurosawa film’s genes with The King of Comedy. Denzel…
Will SloanAug 25, 2025Pack out the trunk from the front to the back
Joe AAug 12, 2025First 40 mins feel like Lee trolling from behind the camera. An older man baffled by the ways in which the world change by the day to the point where you’re like “is he ok??” only for him to gleefully pull the rug and run the score up by 30. He was always ahead. A wild…
Brandon Streussnig
Queue Community Reviews
54%
Community 1,378
Top Reviews
- Brutalist is "meh" onHighest 2 Lowest
Unfortunately not it… I was extremely excited, Denzel, Jeffrey, and ASAP? And it was directed by Spike Lee??? A dream come true. Unfortunately the message of the movie and the story overall get tainted by some extremely questionable editing, extremely choppy and at times confusing, I’m not saying…
Jollfoogfl is "meh" onHighest 2 Lowest7.3/10 Had so much potential to be movie of the year. Great concept and story but so poorly done. Spike Lee took the easy way out everytime directing wise. Some scenes he’d just leave the same camera angle for five minutes for no reason. So many jump cuts at first I thought it was a mistake but it…
toro likedHighest 2 Lowesthonestly was expecting way more. the trailer 100% oversold me. the beginning felt very odd & sloppy. unnecessary amounts of classical music slapped literally all over the dialogue. felt like i was watching a classical concert rather than a movie. it added no feeling to the film whatsoever.…
- Stefan dislikedHighest 2 Lowest
Disclaimer: I stopped watching at 40 minutes, but the combination of poor acting/direction, weird editing choices, and bland script make me doubtful it improves drastically over the rest of the runtime You’ve got heavy hitters like Denzel Washington and Jeffrey Wright but it feels like it’s their…
Jimmy Cricket lovedHighest 2 LowestReally good remix of the original. Same story, same topics of greed and human nature but new themes; Lee ponders his changing industry (music as a surrogate for film) and a changing world. His style verges on experimental; great performances from all, especially Jeffrey Wright.
Nick Dubberly dislikedHighest 2 LowestThe premise sounded really good, but I found it mostly lackluster. There was hardly any tension, and little character development. Even the score of the film did not feel like it fit with the overall tone of the film. This is definitely not one of Spike’s best.
- Matt Ortiz likedHighest 2 Lowest
I have never questioned the artistry of Spike Lee and this film gives me no reason to start! As someone who is an avid student of Lee’s, this shows that he’s still got the juice in the tank to deliver high quality films! Full review here: https://boxd.it/aLLh5J
Big Ant lovedHighest 2 Lowestyo, Spike Lee did his thing with this. Music on point, camera work top tier. And the cast was put together so well.
s to the t to the a to the n likedHighest 2 Lowesta$ap rocky plays subway surfers irl to evade denzel washington’s blicky
Atom User Reviews
POPULAR TAGS
#great
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#intense
#clever
#mustseebro
#inspiring
#datenight
#blockbuster
#epic
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#awardbuzz
#hilarious
#justokay
#notmyfave
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Verified Review
Movie was a bit confusing but it came together at the end. Not my favorite spike and Denzel collab but I would watch again
JS
Jason S
Verified Review
Not my favorite Storyline was very slow Expected more from the movie
AA
Annabel A
Metacritic
Sep 9, 2025
The movie’s secret weapon, in many ways, is not Washington but rather A$AP Rocky, who emerges in the second half to give a performance so fun it’s easy to anoint him the next big movie star.
Esther Zuckerman
The Daily Beast
Aug 14, 2025
A rich feast for cinephiles, filled with love for the craft that makes movies like this possible.
Liz Shannon Miller
Consequence
Aug 14, 2025
Highest 2 Lowest has its highs and lows, and when the highs are high, it soars. Those pesky lows are certainly hard to shake though.
Katie Walsh
Los Angeles Times
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