Where’s the Hype For Highest 2 Lowest?

Decorated film director Spike Lee has a new film out. Two-time Academy Award winner Denzel Washington is starring, alongside Golden Globe winner Jeffery Wright and Tony Award winner Wendell Pierce. And with its US theatrical release this week, it’s hard not to feel like something’s missing. There’s been next to no push or promotion for ‘Highest 2 Lowest’, a film that, on paper, should be dominating cultural conversations, and the official film trailer was only 11 days out from release.

Apple have partnered with A24 to distribute the film, the production company that’s

built a cult-like following and a reputation for championing boundary-pushing storytelling. But, despite this, the rollout feels careless. Marketing has been sporadic at best, and worryingly quiet considering the film’s release is just around the corner. There was a bit of buzz following the film’s premiere at Cannes in May, but only now, three months later and days before it hits cinemas, are we seeing a last-minute push. Why is it that urgency only kicks in once the clock is nearly out? The strength of the cast and director, the Cannes premiere, and the involvement of A24 should suggest a more focused and strategic rollout. Again, it’d be easier to believe that the more niche guys over at A24, and the content newcomers over at Apple, are inept at marketing. But the never-ending promotion run for A24’s Materialists and Apple’s F1: The Movie, prove that they know exactly how to drum up hype; they’re just

selective about what warrants that treatment.

It’s a familiar frustration, with minority filmmakers - even those with decades of undeniable cultural impact - routinely under-served when it comes to industry support. It’d be somewhat easier if we could blame other factors – unknown actors, a new director, no powerhouse production company behind it. But this certainly isn’t a question of talent, budget or audience interest. Instead, it’s prompted a conversation about who gets prioritised, who gets pushed to the front, and who is treated like an afterthought. That this is happening to two titans of cinema, Spike Lee and Denzel Washington suggests that there really is no level of legacy that shields you from institutional neglect.

Scepticism aside, the reality of today’s industry can undermine even the best of intentions. The streaming era has made short theatrical runs the norm, squeezing films like this out of the broader conversation before they’ve even had a chance to find an audience. Studios like Apple, Prime and Netflix seem to be infinitely more invested in data than cultural impact, and if a film doesn’t promise immediate returns or virality, it risks being sidelined, no matter how good it is or how important the story might be. And for directors like Spike Lee, whose work has often required slow digestion, that’s a serious loss. His films are meant to breathe, and instead,

they’re being dropped into an algorithm-led system that doesn’t always know how to

handle depth. ‘Highest to Lowest’, released to US audiences August 15th, is a Spike Lee reimagining of ‘High and Low’, Akira Kurosawa’s 1963 crime thriller. With Lee, the story becomes a modern exploration of race, class and power in New York City, with Denzel Washington playing David King, a wealthy executive whose life is turned upside down by a kidnapping. The film spirals into something morally complex, exposing the fragile foundations of both status and security. It sounds like it’ll be classic Spike Lee - politically sharp and emotionally layered, with bold visuals. It’s also exactly the kind of film that should have months of buzz behind it, as opposed to a rushed whisper campaign.

It’s an annoyingly familiar cycle, where promising work and talented Black artists are

undercut by a lack of sustained support. The real question isn’t whether Spike Lee

and Denzel Washington are worthy of attention, but why that attention still has to be

fought for.