Spike Lee and Denzel Washington return to the screen together for Highest 2 Lowest, a modern-day reinterpretation of Akira Kurosawa’s High and Low. The film, set in New York City, will premiere out of competition at the Cannes Film Festival before its theatrical release by A24 on August 22 and subsequent Apple TV+ debut on September 5.

Washington plays a powerful music executive navigating a high-profile life when his son becomes entangled in a criminal extortion plot. The film takes its foundation from Kurosawa’s 1963 psychological thriller, which followed a businessman whose world is upended after his chauffeur’s son is kidnapped by mistake. In Lee’s version, the stakes are relocated to the music industry, where reputation, money, and power blend into an environment of influence and risk.

A$AP Rocky plays Yung Felon, a central figure in the story whose connection to Washington’s character intensifies the film’s emotional and dramatic tension.