Denzel Washington’s Highest 2 Lowest Became an Instant Streaming Hit—Here’s My Take

I am a bit of a Denzel Washington obsessive. For decades, I have felt that if he is on screen, the movie will at least be watchable. So when I heard that he had made his fifth film with Spike Lee, Highest 2 Lowest, I started counting days. The picture had a small theatrical run through A24, but it never really got a fair chance. It made only around $1.5 million at the box office. Then it arrived on Apple TV+ on September 5, 2025, and I understood exactly why it shot straight to number one.

The film is a reimagining of Akira Kurosawa's 1963 classic High and Low. That movie was itself based on Ed McBain's 1959 novel King's Ransom. Spike Lee and Alan Fox reshape the story around David King, a powerful music mogul played by Denzel. He becomes the target of a ransom scheme. The twist is not just about money. It puts him in an impossible moral dilemma. I love how the film drags you into that knot. It does not let you sit comfortably. Every choice David King makes seems wrong and right at the same time.

One small detail stuck with me. There is a shot of Denzel sitting on the subway, wearing sunglasses and a baseball hat. That image feels so grounded. Even a music mogul can vanish into the crowd. The whole film has that tension between glamour and ordinary New York life. Spike Lee knows how to capture that energy. I grew up watching Mo' Better Blues, Malcolm X, He Got Game, and Inside Man. His collaborations with Denzel always feel alive. This one might be different because it is less about history and more about a tight, nasty thriller.

Let me talk about the cast. Jeffrey Wright is in it, and I cannot get enough of him. He plays Paul. Wright is always precise, and here he feels like a man holding secrets. Ilfenesh Hadera, ASAP Rocky, Ice Spice, Frederick Weller, Dean Winters, John Douglas Thompson, LaChanze, Aubrey Joseph, Michael Potts, Princess Nokia, Wendell Pierce, and Andy McQueen all make appearances. There are also cameos from people playing themselves: Rick Fox, Rod Strickland, Don Lemon, Eddie Palmieri, Anthony Ramos, and Rosie Perez. That blend of actors and real-life figures gives the movie a strange documentary texture. I did not expect Ice Spice to feel so natural. But she does.

The streaming success is impressive. Immediately after its release, Highest 2 Lowest ranked first on Apple TV's Top 10 movies in the United States. It beat The Gorge, The Fountain of Youth, Greyhound, Echo Valley, Wolfs, The Family Plan, Killers of the Flower Moon, Snoopy Presents: A Summer Musical, and Ghosted. That list is full of big titles. For a limited-release crime thriller to top them all says a lot about Denzel's pull. Honestly, it also says a lot about how streaming can rescue a film. The theater run was tiny, so most people never got the chance. Apple TV+ put it in front of millions.

I think the film's official details help explain why it works. It runs 133 minutes. That is enough time to build real pressure without wearing out the audience. Spike Lee directs, and the writers include Alan Fox, Akira Kurosawa, Hideo Oguni, Ryūzō Kikushima, Eijirō Hisaita, and Evan Hunter. The genre is listed as crime, thriller, drama. It does all three. The music mogul's world is not just a backdrop. It shapes the moral question at the center of the story. What do you do when a ransom demand makes you choose between your family, your reputation, and your soul? I was not just watching a kidnapping plot. I was watching a man unravel.

Many people know Denzel's long history. He won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor in Glory and Best Actor in Training Day. He was nominated for Cry Freedom, Malcolm X, The Hurricane, Flight, Fences, Roman J. Israel, Esq., and The Tragedy of Macbeth. He also delivered major performances in Philadelphia, Crimson Tide, Remember the Titans, Man on Fire, American Gangster, and The Equalizer trilogy. At this point, his career is almost unfairly long. In 2024, he appeared in Gladiator II. Now, as I write this in 2026, he is still the reason I check what is new on streaming.

Would I recommend Highest 2 Lowest to someone who has never seen the original Kurosawa film? Yes. You do not need to know High and Low. This movie stands on its own. It borrows the skeleton, but the flesh is pure New York, pure Spike Lee, and pure Denzel. The ending left me quiet for a few minutes. I kept thinking about the cost of doing the right thing. That is what a great thriller should do. It should not just excite you. It should disturb you a little.

The fact that it became an instant streaming hit is not a surprise to me. Denzel Washington is a rare actor who can open a film simply by showing up. Spike Lee knows how to push him. And Apple TV+ gave the film the wide audience it deserved. If you have not seen it yet, make some time. It is one of those reminders that a small release can still become a big cultural moment. In the end, the money number at the theatrical box office did not matter. The people found it. I was one of them. 🍿