X
Summary 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.
Directed By: Spike Lee
Written By: Evan Hunter, Akira Kurosawa, Hideo Oguni, Ryûzô Kikushima
Highest 2 Lowest
74
4.8
Where to Watch
Coming Soon
Not available in your country?
ExpressVPN
Get 3 Extra months free
$6.67/mth
Summary 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.
Directed By: Spike Lee
Written By: Evan Hunter, Akira Kurosawa, Hideo Oguni, Ryûzô Kikushima
Where to Watch
Coming Soon
Not available in your country?
ExpressVPN
Get 3 Extra months free
$6.67/mth
Top Cast
Metascore
Generally Favorable Based on 47 Critic Reviews
74
85% Positive
40 Reviews
40 Reviews
13% Mixed
6 Reviews
6 Reviews
2% Negative
1 Review
1 Review
Metascore
Generally Favorable Based on 47 Critic Reviews
74
85% Positive
40 Reviews
40 Reviews
13% Mixed
6 Reviews
6 Reviews
2% Negative
1 Review
1 Review
Sep 2, 2025
Both star and director are at the top of their game here, and that’s as good as movies get.
Aug 30, 2025
A mashup of Macbeth and the biblical chronicles of King David, all set in contemporary New York City, Highest 2 Lowest sees Spike Lee playing with classical narratives in order to explore a modern man’s artistic reawakening.
User Score
Mixed or Average Based on 97 User Ratings
4.8
30% Positive
29 Ratings
29 Ratings
35% Mixed
34 Ratings
34 Ratings
35% Negative
34 Ratings
34 Ratings
User Score
Mixed or Average Based on 97 User Ratings
4.8
30% Positive
29 Ratings
29 Ratings
35% Mixed
34 Ratings
34 Ratings
35% Negative
34 Ratings
34 Ratings
Oct 2, 2025
This film is a masterpiece. It’s a love letter to NYC, the reflective ****, the music, the art, even the Yankees, Puerto Rican pride and soul = the very best our culture has to offer. Washington is a formidable actor but at the tippy top of his game and should win the Oscar. The creative spark bouncing between DW and Mr. Lee is breathtaking. Jeffrey Wright was also perfect for the role, a flawless performance that should also get best supporting Oscar. ASAP Rocky is also superb. I could not get the scene with Eddie Palmieri’s joyous piano playing out of my mind for days after this film. A total groove, and overall such a great scene with the overriding drama. Lee has always been a remarkable film stylist going back to She’s Got to Have It and Do the Right Thing. What’s most remarkable is how he mixes supreme visual style with telling a story you care about. David King’s final decision has meaning and resolves the story in a magnificent way. Could not get enough of the art in the King home, the b&w photos of legendary black musicians, the Basquiat, and I believe that’s Kehinde Wiley, too. And many more that I couldn’t identify but a beautiful set that showed who the Kings were, which is especially striking knowing where David came from and what he achieved. Bravo to the production designer, too! To find his perp he goes down to Hades, passing Cerberus, to reconnect with where he came from which allows him to find his soul. I don’t want to live in a world without Spike Lee making films in it. He is the best of his generation, an innovator, a genius. I really loved this film. (And I also loved Black Klansman). Hoping Spike Lee gets his due at the Academy Awards this year. Mr Washington and Mr. Wright, too!
Report
Sep 5, 2025
An overall great watch. It shines a light on society and the impact of social media, showing how it has flooded the market with false narratives and empty likes, overshadowing true artists who create from struggle and **** also sheds light on struggling artist that do not get the opportunity or are overlooked. This film invites multiple interpretations—and isn’t that the essence of art? The way it allows each of us to see, feel, and experience emotions in our own unique **** and all that is its essence plays a backdrop like all Spike Lee Joints. Great music, acting and message.
Report
May 22, 2025
Highest 2 Lowest is an old man’s movie, and I don’t mean that as a criticism.
May 19, 2025
Titled like a sequel, plotted like a remake, and shot with enough of its own singular verve to ensure that most people never think of it as either of those things, Spike Lee’s deliriously entertaining — if jarringly upbeat — Highest 2 Lowest modernizes the post-war anxieties of Akira Kurosawa’s “High and Low” for the age of parasocial relationships.
Sep 6, 2025
Washington gives one of his great performances as King, a man comfortable swinging between two worlds with diverging ways of thinking and even talking.
Aug 14, 2025
The movie doesn’t just suffer by comparison to “High and Low” (itself adapted from Evan Hunter’s novel “King’s Ransom”); taken by itself, its pace drags, its tone staggers and its ideas are muddled.
Aug 16, 2025
Denzel Washington plays a music mogul who has a luxurious life with a beautiful wife, a great son and a magnificent Brooklyn penthouse overlooking Manhattan. A ransom call after a kidnapping upends his life and presents a moral dilemma. This is the 5th time that he and director Spike Lee have worked together and this is some of the best work from both of them. Washington’s performance is enthralling with subtle peculiarities and grand gestures. As his best friend, Jeffrey Wright is equally impressive. Lee launches the story with dynamic energy and polished visuals, while creating dramatic encounters and a bit of action. The film’s only real flaw is that it runs too long and could have trimmed some of the extraneous, even self-indulgent scenes. Even so, this is a slick, stylish, well-crafted drama centered around Washington’s Oscar-worthy achievement. The performance of the title song by Aiyana-Lee Anderson makes a moving final moment. BTW, this story is based on the great filmmaker Akira Kurosawa’s crime thriller “High and Low.”NOTE: Fun Easter egg: Look for the apartment number that’s a shoutout to distributor A24. [usr =4.5]
Report
Oct 30, 2025
Spike Lee has always been a director of boundless energy, someone capable of turning any story into an explosion of style, rhythm, and message. But in From Heaven to Hell, that spark seems to dim. There are flashes of his unmistakable touch —the vibrant camera work, the love letter to New York, the pulsing soundtrack— yet the film as a whole feels uneven, as if the story stumbles forward without ever truly pulling you **** starts strong, with a gripping premise and that urban-thriller vibe Lee handles better than anyone. However, as it goes on, the script scatters across too many ideas and twists that never quite connect. It’s visually striking, yes, but emotionally distant. You end up watching rather than feeling, and for a filmmaker who usually throws you right into the heart of his films, that’s surprising.Denzel Washington, of course, elevates everything he touches. His presence remains magnetic, his performance as controlled and powerful as ever, yet even he can’t fully rescue the story once it loses its rhythm. He shines —as always— but in a film that doesn’t seem to know how to make the most of him.There are interesting reflections on morality, power, and ambition, but the movie takes too long to reach them. What could have been a tense, vibrant thriller turns into something flat, saved only by flashes of inspiration and a final act that, though better, arrives too late.From Heaven to Hell isn’t a failure, far from it, but it falls short of what one expects from the partnership between Spike Lee and Denzel Washington. It’s watchable, stylish, competently made —but missing the electricity that makes a good film unforgettable. In the end, it’s fine… just not soulful.
Report
Oct 26, 2025
I had high expectations for this movie with director Spike Lee and actors Denzel W. and Jeffrey W. and others, but I was disappointed **** must have cost a lot of money to make **** plot was running at a pace that defines NYC, I **** music score wasn't bad in and of itself, but it came across as separate from the movie (sorta like if a camera was recording actor's visual action, and the sound of music I heard was being played/recorded from an apartment down the hall). I guess I have to make an effort to watch the original movie that this was based on.
Report
Nov 14, 2025
Serviceable thriller if you are an African-American BLM boomer of a certain cultural mindset. Otherwise, it feels both try-hard and derivative in equal parts. Dialogue, script, music ...all fall apart within minutes. What makes it bearable is the underlying storyline, but Spike Lees has lost this plot. PS: The positive mainstream media reviews are inexcusable. "fo' sho"
Report
Sep 26, 2025
The plot takes a big turn at the beginning, which you hope will give the film that sense of intrigue and mystery it wants to show you, but it only ends up disappointing you with its senseless cheerful soundtrack in moments of suspense, the ending is simply disappointing.
Report
Production Company
- 40 Acres & A Mule Filmworks
- A/Vantage Pictures
- A24
- Apple Original Films
- Escape Artists
- Juniper Productions
- Kurosawa Production Co.
- Mandalay Pictures
Release Date Aug 15, 2025
Duration 2 h 13 m
Rating R
Tagline All $$ ain't good $$.
Awards
Gotham Awards
• 1 Nomination
AARP Movies for Grownups Awards
• 1 Nomination
