"Highest 2 Lowest" Teaser Trailer: Spike Lee and Denzel Washington Reunite for a Gritty New York Crime Drama Inspired by Akira Kurosawa’s Classic High and Low
Washington stars as a music mogul caught in a life-or-death moral dilemma in this powerful Spike Lee-directed drama inspired by Kurosawa's 1963 classic.
Together, they’ve made some of the best films of their careers, now considered modern American classics (Malcolm X, Inside Man, Mo' Better Blues, He Got Game). But after nearly twenty years apart, Academy Award-winning filmmaker Spike Lee and Academy Award-winning actor Denzel Washington will finally reunite for their long-awaited fifth collaboration. The film is called Highest 2 Lowest, and the first official teaser trailer has dropped, offering a look at this eagerly anticipated reunion.
Set to the tune of the classic funk song The Payback by James Brown, the teaser kicks things off with a narration by Denzel Washington, who plays a hot-shot New York music mogul.
He narrates, “There's more to life than just making money. It's integrity. It's what you stand for. It's what you actually believe in.”
The teaser is soon splashed with vivid shots of New York City, presented in the only way Spike Lee can do it—with bold colors and stark imagery that capture the spirit of a city brimming with vibrant culture and beauty, juxtaposed with dangerous grit and relentless ambition.
Washington continues his narration, offering a warning about success in the city: “The hard times will come from the good times. The hard times will come from success. The hard times will come from the money. And the mayhem follows.”
So, essentially, it’s a cautionary tale on how a city like New York can chew you up and spit you out. But if you can handle the daily grind and the stress that comes with it, you’ll be okay. As Sinatra once said, “If you can make it there, you can make it anywhere.”
In addition to Washington, the cast includes Jeffrey Wright (The Last of Us, American Fiction) and Ilfenesh Hadera (Godfather of Harlem, Netflix's She's Gotta Have It), with rapper A$AP Rocky and rapper Ice Spice making appearances.
Set in the cutthroat world of New York's music industry, Highest 2 Lowest follows Washington’s character, one of the greatest music titans in the business, who rose through the ranks by having the “best ears” in the trade, knowing exactly what makes a hit record and who will be the next big star. He soon faces a life-or-death moral dilemma when he's caught in a ransom plot, forcing him to choose between his own self-interest and protecting those he cares about.
Spike’s new film is said to be inspired by High and Low, one of the classic masterpieces by legendary Japanese filmmaker Akira Kurosawa. The 1963 black-and-white noir thriller delves into themes of justice and revenge, as well as the stark social inequality between the privileged and the underprivileged. It centers on a wealthy executive (played by screen legend Toshiro Mifune) who is forced to choose between his fortune and his conscience when a kidnapper targets him, demanding an impossible ransom.
You can watch the trailer for Kurosawa's classic below:
As we mentioned before, this new Spike Lee joint marks his fifth collaboration with Denzel Washington, following the hit crime thriller Inside Man, where he played a New York detective locked in a battle of wits with an incredibly cunning bank thief (Clive Owen). That film was released back in 2006, making this reunion long overdue. So, let’s just hope it doesn’t take another twenty years for these two powerhouses to team up again!
As a co-production between A24 Films and Apple Studios, Highest 2 Lowest is slated to open in theaters on August 22nd, followed by an exclusive streaming release on Apple TV+ on September 5th.
Official 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 fifth time 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.
