Legendary filmmaker Akira Kurosawa’s 1963 film High and Low gets a modern music industry twist in Highest 2 Lowest, a new Apple TV+ film from director Spike Lee that started streaming Friday. In the new Highest 2 Lowest trailer, below, we get a taste of Denzel Washington’s portrayal of a powerful New York City record exec whose son is kidnapped.
The new movie hit theaters on August 15, but now you can watch it on Apple TV+. Check out the trailer below to see what Lee and Washington have in store. Reviews so far suggest the tense drama is another great New York City film from Lee, with Washington shining in lead role.
Highest 2 Lowest trailer tells tense story of kidnapping in Spike Lee’s Kurosawa remake
August 4, 2025: The first Highest 2 Lowest trailer, released Monday, reveals more of the story than an earlier teaser trailer did. We see a little more of Washington’s record producer, David King, going about his daily New York City. And we see more about what happens after the kidnapping of his son Trey (played by Aubrey Joseph) turns King’s life upside down.
The potentially tragic turn takes place just as King tries to cement his legacy in the music business. We watch him desperately try to connect with the apparent kidnapper — the insolent voice of Yung Felony (played by real-life rapper A$AP Rocky) on the phone — over knowing what it’s like to have nothing and want everything.
It looks like Jeffrey Wright (Westworld, The Batman) will play a big role as King’s driver, Paul Christopher. At one point, when King expresses surprise that Christopher is packing a handgun, the driver calls it insurance — “this is Jake from State Farm,” he growls.
Stylish trailer shows Spike Lee and Denzel Washington going Highest 2 Lowest movie in Kurosawa remake
Photo: Apple TV+
Japanese director Kurosawa’s police procedural crime drama High and Low (“Heaven and Hell” in Japanese) — involving the kidnapping of a wealthy shoe magnate — came out in 1963 to modest acclaim and high box office sales in Japan. Eventually, it went on to become the second-highest ranking Kurosawa film — after the classic Seven Samurai — on at least a couple of film websites, including Rotten Tomatoes.
Now, Spike Lee’s Highest 2 Lowest resets the story in modern-day New York City. This time, a music mogul (Washington) faces a ransom plot. In two scenes in the trailer establishing his music biz cred, he’s seen wearing what appear to be gold-plated Beats headphones. Will there be a product tie-in? Maybe not involving actual gold?
Highest 2 Lowest movie: 5th time ‘brothers’ Lee and Washington pair up
Interestingly, Apple’s description on the YouTube page refers to Washington and Lee as “brothers,” in what could draw some jibes over cultural language appropriation on the iPhone giant’s part:
“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.”
Watch the trailer for Highest 2 Lowest movie:
Watch dramas on Apple TV+
While you wait for this new Spike Lee Joint, you can watch plenty of other dramas on Apple TV+. The service is available by subscription for $9.99 with a seven-day free trial. You can also get it via any tier of the Apple One subscription bundle. Customers who buy a new iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, Mac or iPod touch can enjoy three months of Apple TV+ for free.
After launching in November 2019, “Apple TV+ became the first all-original streaming service to launch around the world, and has premiered more original hits and received more award recognitions faster than any other streaming service. To date, Apple Original films, documentaries and series have been honored with 471 wins and 2,090 award nominations and counting,” the service said.
More than 200 exclusive movies and TV shows call Apple TV+ home (including breakout soccer comedy Ted Lasso). The service also offers documentaries, dramas, comedies, kids shows and more.
Source: Apple TV+ YouTube channel
We first published this post on May 5, 2025, and republished it with the new trailer on August 4, 2025 and again when the movie started streaming on September 5, 2025.
