"Highest 2 Lowest"

The Next Best Picture Podcast

Tv & Film

4.2 • 542 Ratings

🗓️ 6 September 2025

⏱️ 143 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

For this week's main podcast review, Josh Parham, Giovanni Lago, Daniel Howat, Brendan Hodges, and Tom O'Brien join me to review and discuss the latest Spike Lee joint, "Highest 2 Lowest," starring Denzel Washington, Jeffrey Wright, Ilfenesh Hadera & ASAP Rocky. It is an English-language remake and reinterpretation of Akira Kurosawa's 1963 Japanese film High and Low, itself based on the 1959 novel King's Ransom by Ed McBain. It marks the first collaboration between Lee and Washington since "Inside Man" in 2006. The film premiered at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival to positive reviews, but what did we think of it? Please tune in as we discuss the direction, themes, performances, music, its awards season chances, and more in our SPOILER-FILLED review. Thank you for listening, and enjoy! Check out more on NextBestPicture.com Please subscribe on... Apple Podcasts - https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/negs-best-film-podcast/id1087678387?mt=2 Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/7IMIzpYehTqeUa1d9EC4jT YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCWA7KiotcWmHiYYy6wJqwOw And be sure to help support us on Patreon for as little as $1 a month at https://www.patreon.com/NextBestPicture and listen to this podcast ad-free Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	You are listening to The Next Best Picture podcast, and this is our review for highest to lowest.
0:06.6	New mixes of mood music. I need a theme.
0:08.9	Thin music.
0:11.1	Hey!
0:12.3	Wake up, y'all. The king's here.
0:13.7	Got to pay back.
0:15.7	Buying back stacking his records.
0:17.4	It's a lot of money.
0:18.7	There's more to life than just making money.
0:21.6	It's integrity. There's what you stand for.
0:24.6	What you think?
0:25.6	I think you gotta be a little crazy sometimes in this world to get what you want.
0:29.6	King David, now ain't this son.
0:32.6	I got your full attention now, huh? You finally listening to me.
0:36.6	Somebody's got threat. What do you mean somebody's got? Somebody's kidnapped our son. 17.5 million dollars in the all black joint backpack. Try me if you think I'm playing. I ain't got... Back up the trunk from the front. 11 a.m. board the Ford train going to money, make you man high.
0:55.0	You let him go.
0:55.9	I make sure you set free.
0:57.3	It's too late for a left.
1:18.0	It's never too late. I'm not got no one, nigga, I am. All right, everybody, you were just listening to the trailer for highest to lowest, and the story is as follows. When a powerful music mogul is targeted by a ransom plot, he is forced to fight for his family and legacy while jammed up in a life or death moral dilemma.
1:28.2	The film is starring Denzel Washington, Jeffrey Wright, Ilfinesh, Hedera, ASAP Rocky, Rocky Ice Spice It is directed by Spike Lee
1:30.8	And it is written by Alan Fox
1:32.7	Here to join me today
	...

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