Deon Cole hosts the 57th NAACP Image Awards on February 28th. Photo: Paramount+.
Preview:
‘Sinners’ took home the big prizes at the 2026 NAACP Image Awards.
‘Paradise’ and Cynthia Erivo were also among the winners.
The event took place Saturday night at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium.
Following the difficult, insulting moments of this year’s BAFTA Awards, the NAACP Image Awards, hosted by Deon Cole, which took place Saturday night at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium, were a chance to balance things out.
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And Ryan Coogler’s ‘Sinners’ proved to be the big winner, going home with 13 awards following a nomination count of 18. Star Michael B. Jordan himself won both a Best Actor award and was honored with Entertainer of the Year.
The ceremony also paid tribute to the late Rev. Jesse Jackson, with NAACP CEO Derrick Johnson and Samuel L. Jackson honoring the late civil rights activist, whose family was in attendance at the ceremony.
From director Eric Lin, in a race against time, an ailing woman (Lucy Liu) discovers her teenage son’s (Lawrence Shou) violent obsessions and must go to great lengths to protect him, and possibly others, in this portrait of a Chinese American family. Inspired by true events.
Sydney Sweeney in ‘Christy’. Photo: Black Bear Pictures.
From director David Michôd, Christy Martin (Sydney Sweeney) never imagined life beyond her small-town roots in West Virginia—until she discovered a knack for punching people. Fueled by grit, raw determination, and an unshakable desire to win, she charges into the world of boxing under the guidance of her trainer and manager-turned-husband, Jim (Ben Foster). But while Christy flaunts a fiery persona in the ring, her toughest battles unfold outside it—confronting family, identity, and a relationship that just might become life-or-death.
(L to R) Stellan Skarsgård and Elle Fanning in ‘Sentimental Value’. Photo: Kasper Tuxen Andersen.
From director Joachim Trier, sisters Nora (Renate Reinsve) and Agnes (Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas) reunite with their estranged father, the charismatic Gustav (Stellan Skarsgård), a once-renowned director who offers stage actress Nora a role in what he hopes will be his comeback film. When Nora turns it down, she soon discovers he has given her part to an eager young Hollywood star (Elle Fanning).
(L to R) Channing Tatum and Kirsten Dunst star in Paramount Pictures’ ‘Roofman’.
From director Derek Cianfrance, a former Army Ranger and struggling father (Channing Tatum) turns to robbing McDonald’s restaurants by cutting holes in their roofs, earning him the nickname ‘Roofman’. After escaping prison, he secretly lives inside a Toys “R” Us for six months, surviving undetected while planning his next move. But when he falls for a divorced mom (Kristen Dunst) drawn to his undeniable charm, his double life begins to unravel, setting off a compelling and suspenseful game of cat and mouse as his past closes in.
From director Yorgos Lanthimos, two conspiracy obsessed young (Jesse Plemons and Aidan Delbis) men kidnap the high-powered CEO (Emma Stone) of a major company, convinced that she is an alien intent on destroying planet Earth.
From director Osgood Perkins, when twin brothers (both played by Theo James) find a mysterious wind-up monkey, a series of outrageous deaths tear their family apart. Twenty-five years later, the monkey begins a new killing spree forcing the estranged brothers to confront the cursed toy.
Denzel Washington in ‘Highest 2 Lowest’. Photo Credit: David Lee.
From director Spike Lee, 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.
(L to R) Dacre Montgomery as Richard ‘Dick’ Hall and Bill Skarsgård as Tony Kiritsis in ‘Dead Man’s Wire’. Photo: Row K Entertainment
From director Gus Van Sant, set in 1977 and based on a true story, Tony Kiritsis (Bill Skarsgård), a former real estate developer puts a dead man’s switch on himself and the mortgage banker (Dacre Montgomery) who did him wrong, demanding $5 million and a personal apology.
Directed by Dan Trachtenberg, cast out from his clan, a young Predator (Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi) finds an unlikely ally in a damaged android (Elle Fanning) and embarks on a treacherous journey in search of the ultimate adversary.
From director Rian Johnson, when young priest Jud Duplenticy (Josh O’Connor) is sent to assist charismatic firebrand Monsignor Jefferson Wicks (Josh Brolin), it’s clear that all is not well in the pews. After a sudden and seemingly impossible murder rocks the town, the lack of an obvious suspect prompts local police chief Geraldine Scott (Mila Kunis) to join forces with renowned detective Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig) to unravel a mystery that defies all logic.
From director Bradley Cooper, as their marriage quietly unravels, Alex (Will Arnett) faces middle age and an impending divorce, seeking new purpose in the New York comedy scene while Tess (Laura Dern) confronts the sacrifices she made for their family—forcing them to navigate co-parenting, identity, and whether love can take a new form.
From director James Cameron, in the wake of the devastating war against the RDA and the loss of their eldest son, Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) and Neytiri (Zoe Saldaña) face a new threat on Pandora: the Ash People, a violent and power-hungry Na’vi tribe led by the ruthless Varang (Oona Chaplin). Jake’s family must fight for their survival and the future of Pandora in a conflict that pushes them to their emotional and physical limits.
From director James Gunn, Superman (David Corenswet), a journalist in Metropolis, embarks on a journey to reconcile his Kryptonian heritage with his human upbringing as Clark Kent.
From director Guillermo del Toro, Dr. Victor Frankenstein (Oscar Isaac), a brilliant but egotistical scientist, brings a creature (Jacob Elordi) to life in a monstrous experiment that ultimately leads to the undoing of both the creator and his tragic creation.
From director Edward Berger, amid the glittering casinos of Macau, a gambler (Colin Farrell) running from his past — and his debts — becomes fascinated by an enigmatic woman at the baccarat table.
From director Ari Aster, in May of 2020, a standoff between a small-town sheriff (Joaquin Phenix) and mayor (Pedro Pascal) sparks a powder keg as neighbor is pitted against neighbor in Eddington, New Mexico.
From director Darren Aronofsky, burned-out ex-baseball player Hank Thompson (Austin Butler) unexpectedly finds himself embroiled in a dangerous struggle for survival amidst the criminal underbelly of late 1990s New York City, forced to navigate a treacherous underworld he never imagined.
From director Noah Baumbach, famous movie actor Jay Kelly (George Clooney) embarks on a journey of self-discovery, confronting both his past and present, accompanied by his devoted manager, Ron (Adam Sandler).
From director Steven Soderbergh, ‘Black Bag’ is a gripping spy drama about legendary intelligence agents George Woodhouse (Michael Fassbender) and his beloved wife Kathryn (Cate Blanchett). When she is suspected of betraying the nation, George faces the ultimate test – loyalty to his marriage or his country.
From director Joseph Kosinski, racing legend Sonny Hayes (Brad Pitt) is coaxed out of retirement to lead a struggling Formula 1 team—and mentor a young hotshot driver (Damson Idris), while chasing one more chance at glory.
From director Zach Cregger, when all but one child (Cary Christopher) from the same class mysteriously vanish on the same night at exactly the same time, a community is left questioning who or what is behind their disappearance.
From director Josh Safdie, in 1950s New York, Marty Mauser, (Timothée Chalamet) a young man with a dream no one respects, goes to hell and back in pursuit of greatness.
From director Ryan Coogler, trying to leave their troubled lives behind, twin brothers (Michael B. Jordan) return to their hometown to start again, only to discover that an even greater evil is waiting to welcome them back.
Leonardo Di Caprio as Bob Ferguson in ‘One Battle After Another.’ A Warner Bros. Pictures Release. Photo Credit: Photo Courtesy Warner Bros. Pictures.
From director Paul Thomas Anderson, washed-up revolutionary Bob (Leonardo DiCaprio) exists in a state of stoned paranoia, surviving off-grid with his spirited, self-reliant daughter, Willa (Chase Infiniti). When his evil nemesis (Sean Penn) resurfaces after 16 years and she goes missing, the former radical scrambles to find her, father and daughter both battling the consequences of his past.
(L to R) David Harbour and Jeffrey Wright in ‘Quantum of Solace’. Photo: Sony Pictures Releasing.
Quantum of Solace continues the adventures of James Bond (Daniel Craig) after ‘Casino Royale.’ Betrayed by Vesper, the woman he loved, 007 fights the urge to make his latest mission personal. Pursuing his determination to uncover the truth, Bond and M (Judy Dench) interrogate Mr. White, who reveals that the organization that blackmailed Vesper is far more complex and dangerous than anyone had imagined.
Years after his squad was ambushed during the Gulf War, Major Ben Marco (Denzel Washington) finds himself having terrible nightmares. He begins to doubt that his fellow squad-mate Sergeant Raymond Shaw (Liev Schreiber), now a vice-presidential candidate, is the hero he remembers him being. As Marco’s doubts deepen, Shaw’s political power grows, and, when Marco finds a mysterious implant embedded in his back, the memory of what really happened begins to return.
Apartment building superintendent Cleveland Heep (Paul Giamatti) rescues what he thinks is a young woman (Bryce Dallas Howard) from the pool he maintains. When he discovers that she is actually a character from a bedtime story who is trying to make the journey back to her home, he works with his tenants to protect his new friend from the creatures that are determined to keep her in our world.
The story of the eventful life of George W. Bush (Josh Brolin), his struggles and triumphs, how he found both his wife and his faith—and the critical days leading up to his decision to invade Iraq.
Jeffrey Wright as Dr. Rutledge in ‘Source Code.’ Photo: Summit Entertainment.
When decorated soldier Captain Colter Stevens (Jake Gyllenhaal) wakes up in the body of an unknown man, he discovers he’s part of a mission to find the bomber of a Chicago commuter train.
In a broken city rife with injustice, ex-cop Billy Taggart (Mark Wahlberg) seeks redemption and revenge after being double-crossed and then framed by its most powerful figure, the mayor (Russell Crowe). Billy’s relentless pursuit of justice, matched only by his streetwise toughness, makes him an unstoppable force – and the mayor’s worst nightmare.
With the nation of Panem in a full scale war, Katniss (Jennifer Lawrence) confronts President Snow (Donald Sutherland) in the final showdown. Teamed with a group of her closest friends – including Gale (Liam Hemsworth), Finnick (Sam Claflin), and Peeta (Josh Hutcherson) – Katniss goes off on a mission with the unit from District 13 as they risk their lives to stage an assassination attempt on President Snow who has become increasingly obsessed with destroying her. The mortal traps, enemies, and moral choices that await Katniss will challenge her more than any arena she faced in The Hunger Games.
When her idyllic vacation takes an unthinkable turn, Ellen Martin (Meryl Streep) begins investigating a fake insurance policy, only to find herself down a rabbit hole of questionable dealings that can be linked to a Panama City law firm and its vested interest in helping the world’s wealthiest citizens amass larger fortunes.
Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) has returned home safe after winning the 74th Annual Hunger Games along with fellow tribute Peeta Mellark. Winning means that they must turn around and leave their family and close friends, embarking on a “Victor’s Tour” of the districts. Along the way Katniss senses that a rebellion is simmering, but the Capitol is still very much in control as President Snow (Donald Sutherland) prepares the 75th Annual Hunger Games (The Quarter Quell) – a competition that could change Panem forever.
(L to R) Fisher Stevens, Jeffrey Wright, Tony Revolori, and Bob Balaban in director Wes Anderson’s ‘Asteroid City,’ a Focus Features release. Credit: Courtesy of Pop. 87 Productions/Focus Features.
The itinerary of a Junior Stargazer/Space Cadet convention (organized to bring together students and parents from across the country for fellowship and scholarly competition) is spectacularly disrupted by world-changing events.
The Middle Eastern oil industry is the backdrop of this tense drama, which weaves together numerous story lines. Bennett Holiday (Wright) is an American lawyer in charge of facilitating a dubious merger of oil companies, while Bryan Woodman (Matt Damon), a Switzerland-based energy analyst, experiences both personal tragedy and opportunity during a visit with Arabian royalty. Meanwhile, veteran CIA agent Bob Barnes (George Clooney) uncovers an assassination plot with unsettling origins.
Louis Menkins (Wright) is five weeks away from being released after 26 years in prison. He is faced with the decision to put his own release at risk in order to protect a young man named Beecher from growing gang controversies.
Dirty tricks stand to soil an ambitious young press spokesman’s (Ryan Gosling) idealism in a cutthroat presidential campaign where ‘victory’ is relative.
Bond (Daniel Craig) has left active service and is enjoying a tranquil life in Jamaica. His peace is short-lived when his old friend Felix Leiter (Wright) from the CIA turns up asking for help. The mission to rescue a kidnapped scientist turns out to be far more treacherous than expected, leading Bond onto the trail of a mysterious villain armed with dangerous new technology.
(L to R) Samuel L. Jackson and Jeffrey Wright in 2000’s ‘Shaft’. Photo: Paramount Pictures.
New York police detective John Shaft (Samuel L. Jackson) arrests Walter Wade Jr. (Christian Bale) for a racially motivated slaying. But the only eyewitness disappears, and Wade jumps bail for Switzerland. Two years later Wade returns to face trial, confident his money and influence will get him acquitted — especially since he’s paid a drug kingpin (Wright) to kill the witness.
In 1964, a brash, new pro boxer, fresh from his Olympic gold medal victory, explodes onto the scene: Cassius Clay (Will Smith). Bold and outspoken, he cuts an entirely new image for African Americans in sport with his proud public self-confidence and his unapologetic belief that he is the greatest boxer of all time. Yet at the top of his game, both Ali’s personal and professional lives face the ultimate test.
A depressed musician (Tom Hiddleston) reunites with his lover (Tilda Swinton) in the desolate streets of Detroit. Though their romance has endured several centuries, it is tested by the arrival of her capricious and unpredictable younger sister (Mia Wasikowska).
The staff of an American magazine based in France puts out its last issue, with stories featuring an artist sentenced to life imprisonment, student riots, and a kidnapping resolved by a chef.
Activist Bayard Rustin (Colman Domingo) faces racism and homophobia as he helps change the course of Civil Rights history by orchestrating the 1963 March on Washington.
Denzel Washington in ‘Highest 2 Lowest’. Photo Credit: David Lee.
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.
Le Chiffre (Mads Mikkelsen), a banker to the world’s terrorists, is scheduled to participate in a high-stakes poker game in Montenegro, where he intends to use his winnings to establish his financial grip on the terrorist market. M (Judi Dench) sends Bond (Daniel Craig) on his maiden mission as a 00 Agent—to attend this game and prevent Le Chiffre from winning. With the help of Vesper Lynd (Eva Green) and Felix Leiter (Wright), Bond enters the most important poker game in his already dangerous career.
From Warner Bros. Pictures comes Matt Reeves’ ‘The Batman,’ starring Robert Pattinson in the dual role of Gotham City’s vigilante detective and his alter ego, reclusive billionaire Bruce Wayne.
‘American Fiction’ is Cord Jefferson’s hilarious directorial debut, which confronts our culture’s obsession with reducing people to outrageous stereotypes. Jeffrey Wright stars as Monk, a frustrated novelist who’s fed up with the establishment profiting from “Black” entertainment that relies on tired and offensive tropes. To prove his point, Monk uses a pen name to write an outlandish “Black” book of his own, a book that propels him to the heart of hypocrisy and the madness he claims to disdain.
His new film, ‘Highest 2 Lowest‘, which reunites him with longtime collaborator director Spike Lee, opens in theaters on August 15th before being available to stream on Apple TV+ on September 5th.
In honor of ‘Highest 2 Lowest’s release, Moviefone is counting down the 45 best movies of Denzel Washington’s incredibly impressive acting career, including his latest.
Denzel Washington as Joe “Deke” Deacon in ‘The Little Things’ from Warner Bros. Pictures.
Deputy Sheriff Joe “Deke” Deacon (Washington) joins forces with Sgt. Jim Baxter (Rami Malek) to search for a serial killer who’s terrorizing Los Angeles. As they track the culprit, Baxter is unaware that the investigation is dredging up echoes of Deke’s past, uncovering disturbing secrets that could threaten more than his case.
A sailor (Derek Luke) prone to violent outbursts is sent to a naval psychiatrist for help. Refusing at first to open up, the young man eventually breaks down and reveals a horrific childhood. Through the guidance of his doctor (Washington), he confronts his painful past and begins a quest to find the family he never knew.
A DEA agent (Washington) and an undercover Naval Intelligence officer (Mark Wahlberg) who have been tasked with investigating one another find they have been set up by the mob — the very organization the two men believe they have been stealing money from.
The secret US abduction of a suspected terrorist from his Middle East homeland leads to a wave of terrorist attacks in New York. An FBI senior agent (Washington) and his team attempt to locate and decommission the enemy cells, but must also deal with an Army General (Bruce Willis) gone rogue and a female CIA agent (Annette Bening) of uncertain loyalties.
Called in to recover evidence in the aftermath of a horrific explosion on a New Orleans ferry, Federal agent Doug Carlin (Washington) gets pulled away from the scene and taken to a top-secret government lab that uses a time-shifting surveillance device to help prevent crime.
(L to R) Denzel Washington and Eva Mendes in ‘Out of Time’. Photo: MGM.
Matt Lee Whitlock (Washington), respected chief of police in small Banyan Key, Florida, must solve a vicious double homicide before he himself falls under suspicion. Matt Lee has to stay a few steps ahead of his own police force and everyone he’s trusted in order to find out the truth.
In this Shakespearean farce, Hero (Kate Beckinsale) and her groom-to-be, Claudio (Robert Sean Leonard), team up with Claudio’s commanding officer, Don Pedro (Washington), the week before their wedding to hatch a matchmaking scheme. Their targets are sharp-witted duo Benedick (Kenneth Branagh) and Beatrice (Emma Thompson) — a tough task indeed, considering their corresponding distaste for love and each other. Meanwhile, meddling Don John (Keanu Reeves) plots to ruin the wedding.
Homicide detective John Hobbes (Washington) witnesses the execution of serial killer Edgar Reese (Elias Koteas). Soon after the execution the killings start again, and they are very similar to Reese’s style.
An Indian family is expelled from Uganda when Idi Amin takes power. They move to Mississippi and time passes. The Indian daughter (Sarita Choudhury) falls in love with a black man (Washington), and the respective families have to come to terms with it.
The Law Enforcement Technology Advancement Centre (LETAC) has developed SID version 6.7 (Russell Crowe): a Sadistic, Intelligent, and Dangerous virtual reality entity which is synthesized from the personalities of more than 150 serial killers, and only one man can stop him.
Denzel Washington in ‘Roman J. Israel, Esq’. Photo: Sony Pictures.
Hard-nosed liberal lawyer Roman J. Israel (Washington) has been fighting the good fight forever while others take the credit. When his partner – the firm’s frontman – has a heart attack, Israel suddenly takes on that role. He soon discovers some unsettling truths about the firm – truths that conflict with his values of helping the poor and dispossessed – and finds himself in an existential crisis that leads to extreme actions.
In a rural town in Louisiana, a black Master Sergeant is found shot to death just outside the local Army Base. Military lawyer, Captain Davenport (Howard E. Rollins Jr.)—also a black man—is sent from Washington to conduct an investigation. Facing an uncooperative chain of command and fearful black troops, Davenport must battle with deceit and prejudice in order to find out exactly who really did kill the Master Sergeant.
A US Army officer (Washington), who made a “friendly fire” mistake that was covered up, has been reassigned to a desk job. He is tasked to investigate a female chopper commander’s (Meg Ryan) worthiness to be awarded the Medal of Honor. At first all seems in order. But then he begins to notice inconsistencies between the testimonies of the witnesses…
Talented but self-centered trumpeter Bleek Gillian (Washington) is obsessed with his music and indecisiveness about his girlfriends Indigo (Joie Lee) and Clarke (Cynda Williams). But when he is forced to come to the aid of his manager and childhood friend (Spike Lee), Bleek finds his world more fragile that he ever imagined.
From Academy Award-winning filmmaker Joel Coen comes the propulsive, boldly cinematic ‘The Tragedy of Macbeth,’ starring Oscar-winners Denzel Washington and Frances McDormand as the devious, ill-fated Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. An original, striking reimagining of the classic Shakespearean tale portrayed in sumptuous black-and-white cinematography, ‘The Tragedy of Macbeth’ finds the titular general and his loyal wife older and warier, desperately striving against a merciless ticking clock as they attempt to seize upon a final opportunity for power. In the chaos that ensues, their grasp on the throne unravels, terror mounts and regret enshrouds every inch of their wretched world. Co-starring Kathryn Hunter, Corey Hawkins, Moses Ingram, Brendan Gleeson, Harry Melling and Bertie Carvel.
Denzel Washington in ‘John Q’. Photo: New Line Cinema.
John Quincy Archibald (Washington) is a father and husband whose son is diagnosed with an enlarged heart and then finds out he cannot receive a transplant because HMO insurance will not cover it. Therefore, he decides to take a hospital full of patients hostage until the hospital puts his son’s name on the donor’s list.
A post-apocalyptic tale, in which a lone man (Washington) fights his way across America in order to protect a sacred book that holds the secrets to saving humankind.
Commercial airline pilot Whip Whitaker (Washington) has a problem with drugs and alcohol, though so far he’s managed to complete his flights safely. His luck runs out when a disastrous mechanical malfunction sends his plane hurtling toward the ground. Whip pulls off a miraculous crash-landing that results in only six lives lost. Shaken to the core, Whip vows to get sober — but when the crash investigation exposes his addiction, he finds himself in an even worse situation.
(L to R) Denzel Washington and Angelina Jolie in ‘The Bone Collector’. Photo: Universal Pictures.
Rookie cop, Amelia Donaghy (Angelina Jolie) reluctantly teams with Lincoln Rhyme (Washington) – formerly the department’s top homicide detective but now paralyzed as a result of a spinal injury – to catch a grisly serial killer dubbed ‘The Bone Collector’. The murderer’s special signature is to leave tantalizing clues based on the grim remains of his crimes.
A dramatic story, based on actual events, about the friendship between two men struggling against apartheid in South Africa in the 1970s. Donald Woods (Kevin Kline) is a white liberal journalist in South Africa who begins to follow the activities of Stephen Biko (Washington), a courageous and outspoken black anti-apartheid activist.
Years after witnessing the death of the revered hero Maximus (Russell Crowe) at the hands of his uncle (Joaquin Phoenix), Lucius (Paul Mescal) is forced to enter the Colosseum after his home is conquered by the tyrannical Emperors who now lead Rome with an iron fist. With rage in his heart and the future of the Empire at stake, Lucius must look to his past to find strength and honor to return the glory of Rome to its people.
Two competing lawyers (Tom Hanks and Washington) join forces to sue a prestigious law firm for AIDS discrimination. As their unlikely friendship develops their courage overcomes the prejudice and corruption of their powerful adversaries.
Robert McCall (Washington) believes he has put his mysterious past behind him and dedicated himself to beginning a new, quiet life. But when he meets Teri (Chloe Grace Moretz), a young girl under the control of ultra-violent Russian gangsters, he can’t stand idly by – he has to help her. Armed with hidden skills that allow him to serve vengeance against anyone who would brutalize the helpless, McCall comes out of his self-imposed retirement and finds his desire for justice reawakened. If someone has a problem, if the odds are stacked against them, if they have nowhere else to turn, McCall will help. He is The Equalizer.
2016’s ‘The Magnificent Seven’. Photo: Sony Pictures.
Looking to mine for gold, greedy industrialist Bartholomew Bogue (Peter Sarsgaard) seizes control of the Old West town of Rose Creek. With their lives in jeopardy, Emma Cullen (Haley Bennett) and other desperate residents turn to bounty hunter Sam Chisolm (Washington) for help. Chisolm recruits an eclectic group of gunslingers to take on Bogue and his ruthless henchmen. With a deadly showdown on the horizon, the seven mercenaries soon find themselves fighting for more than just money once the bullets start to fly.
A runaway train, transporting deadly, toxic chemicals, is barreling down on Stanton, Pennsylvania, and proves to be unstoppable until a veteran engineer (Washington) and young conductor (Chris Pine) risk their lives to try and stop it with a switch engine.
Two Supreme Court Justices have been assassinated. One lone law student (Julia Roberts) has stumbled upon the truth. An investigative journalist (Washington) wants her story. Everybody else wants her dead.
After the Cold War, a breakaway Russian republic with nuclear warheads becomes a possible worldwide threat. U.S. submarine Capt. Frank Ramsey (Gene Hackman) signs on a relatively green but highly recommended Lt. Cmdr. Ron Hunter (Washington) to the USS Alabama, which may be the only ship able to stop a possible Armageddon. When Ramsay insists that the Alabama must act aggressively, Hunter, fearing they will start rather than stop a disaster, leads a potential mutiny to stop him.
In 1950s Pittsburgh, a frustrated African-American father (Washington) struggles with the constraints of poverty, racism, and his own inner demons as he tries to raise a family.
Denzel Washington stars as Robert McCall in Columbia Pictures ‘The Equalizer 3.’ Photo by: Stefano Montesi.
Since giving up his life as a government assassin, Robert McCall (Washington) has struggled to reconcile the horrific things he’s done in the past and finds a strange solace in serving justice on behalf of the oppressed. Finding himself surprisingly at home in Southern Italy, he discovers his new friends are under the control of local crime bosses. As events turn deadly, McCall knows what he has to do: become his friends’ protector by taking on the mafia.
Armed men hijack a New York City subway train, holding the passengers hostage in return for a ransom, and turning an ordinary day’s work for dispatcher Walter Garber (Washington) into a face-off with the mastermind behind the crime.
A dangerous CIA renegade (Washington) resurfaces after a decade on the run. When the safe house he’s remanded to is attacked by mercenaries, a rookie operative (Ryan Reynolds) escapes with him. Now, the unlikely allies must stay alive long enough to uncover who wants them dead.
Robert Gould Shaw (Matthew Broderick) leads the US Civil War’s first all-black volunteer company, fighting prejudices of both his own Union army and the Confederates.
After leading his football team to 15 winning seasons, coach Bill Yoast (Will Patton) is demoted and replaced by Herman Boone (Washington) – who is tough, opinionated and as different from the beloved Yoast as he could be. The two men learn to overcome their differences and turn a group of hostile young men into champions.
Denzel Washington in ‘Highest 2 Lowest’. Photo Credit: David Lee.
When a titan music mogul (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.
The story of Rubin “Hurricane” Carter (Washington), a boxer wrongly imprisoned for murder, and the people who aided in his fight to prove his innocence.
In late 1940s Los Angeles, Easy Rawlins (Washington) is an unemployed black World War II veteran with few job prospects. At a bar, Easy meets DeWitt Albright (Tom Sizemore), a mysterious white man looking for someone to investigate the disappearance of a missing white woman named Daphne Monet (Jennifer Beals), who he suspects is hiding out in one of the city’s black jazz clubs. Strapped for money and facing house payments, Easy takes the job, but soon finds himself in over his head.
Following the death of his employer and mentor, Bumpy Johnson (Clarence Williams III), Frank Lucas (Washington) establishes himself as the number one importer of heroin in the Harlem district of Manhattan. He does so by buying heroin directly from the source in South East Asia and he comes up with a unique way of importing the drugs into the United States. Partly based on a true story.
Robert McCall (Washington), who serves an unflinching justice for the exploited and oppressed, embarks on a relentless, globe-trotting quest for vengeance when a long-time friend (Melissa Leo) is murdered.
Denzel Washington in ‘Man on Fire’. Photo: 20th Century Fox.
Jaded ex-CIA operative John Creasy (Washington) reluctantly accepts a job as the bodyguard for a 10-year-old girl (Dakota Fanning) in Mexico City. They clash at first, but eventually bond, and when she’s kidnapped he’s consumed by fury and will stop at nothing to save her life.
When an armed, masked gang (led by Clive Owen) enter a Manhattan bank, lock the doors and take hostages, the detective (Washington) assigned to effect their release enters negotiations preoccupied with corruption charges he is facing.
A tribute to the controversial black activist and leader (played by Washington) of the struggle for black liberation. He hit bottom during his imprisonment in the ’50s, he became a Black Muslim and then a leader in the Nation of Islam. His assassination in 1965 left a legacy of self-determination and racial pride.
Police chief Xavier Quinn (Washington) investigates the gruesome murder of Donald Pater, one of the wealthiest residents on a Caribbean island. He was found decapitated in his Jacuzzi. Although the local political establishment, especially crooked Governor Chalk (Norman Beaton), insists that small-time thief Maubee (Robert Townsend) is responsible, Xavier has his doubts. This view is complicated by the police chief’s personal history with Maubee: The men have been friends since childhood.
His latest movie, ‘Highest 2 Lowest‘, which marks his fifth collaboration with Denzel Washington, opens in theaters on August 15th before debuting on Apple TV+ on September 15th.
In honor of ‘Highest 2 Lowest’, Moviefone is counting down every film Spike Lee has ever directed from worst to best, including his latest.
Damon Wayans in ‘Bamboozled’. Photo: New Line Cinema.
Frustrated when network brass reject his sitcom idea, producer Pierre Delacroix (Damon Wayans) pitches the worst idea he can think of in an attempt to get fired: a 21st century minstrel show. The network not only airs it, but it becomes a smash hit.
Zack Homer (Monty Ross) takes over managing the barbershop after Joe (Horace Long) is killed for trying to rip off his “investor”, Mr. Lovejoy (Tommy Redmond Hicks). All Zack wants to do is run a traditional barbershop giving traditional haircuts, but modern styles have passed him by and business is slow. One evening, Mr. Lovejoy shows up to offer Zack the same deal he gave to Joe. It could turn his business around, but what will he have to give in return?
Dr. Hess Green (Stephen Tyrone Williams) becomes cursed by a mysterious ancient African artifact and is overwhelmed with a newfound thirst for blood. Soon after his transformation he enters into a dangerous romance with Ganja Hightower (Zaraah Abrahams) that questions the very nature of love, addiction, sex, and status.
When his mom deposits him at the Red Hook housing project in Brooklyn to spend the summer with the grandfather he’s never met, young Flik (Jules Brown) may as well have landed on Mars. Fresh from his cushy life in Atlanta, he’s bored and friendless, and his strict grandfather, Enoch (Clarke Peters), a firebrand preacher, is bent on getting him to accept Jesus Christ as his personal savior. Only Chazz (Toni Lysaith), the feisty girl from church, provides a diversion from the drudgery. As hot summer simmers and Sunday mornings brim with Enoch’s operatic sermons, things turn anything but dull as people’s conflicting agendas collide.
A scene from ‘Get on the Bus’. Photo: Sony Pictures Releasing.
Several Black men take a cross-country bus trip to attend the Million Man March in Washington, DC in 1995. On the bus are an eclectic set of characters including a laid-off aircraft worker, a man whose at-risk son is handcuffed to him, a black Republican, a former gangsta, a Hollywood actor, a cop who is of mixed racial background, and a white bus driver. All make the trek discussing issues surrounding the march, including manhood, religion, politics, and race.
Miracle at St. Anna chronicles the story of four American soldiers who are members of the all-black 92nd “Buffalo Soldier” Division stationed in Tuscany, Italy during World War II.
A man (Josh Brolin) has only three and a half days and limited resources to discover why he was imprisoned in a nondescript room for 20 years without any explanation.
From Spike Lee comes this vibrant semi-autobiographical portrait of a school-teacher (Alfre Woodard), her stubborn jazz-musician husband (Delroy Lindo) and their five kids living in ’70s Brooklyn.
Talented but self-centered trumpeter Bleek Gilliam (Denzel Washington) is obsessed with his music and indecisiveness about his girlfriends Indigo (Joie Lee) and Clarke (Cynda Williams). But when he is forced to come to the aid of his manager and childhood friend, Bleek finds his world more fragile than he ever imagined.
The story of Nola Darling’s (Tracy Camilla Johns) simultaneous sexual relationships with three different men is told by her and by her partners and other friends. All three men wanted her to commit solely to them; Nola resists being “owned” by a single partner.
Denzel Washington in ‘Highest 2 Lowest’. Photo Credit: David Lee.
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.
Four African-American Vietnam veterans (Delroy Lindo, Clarke Peters, Norm Lewis and Isiah Whitlock Jr.) return to Vietnam. They are in search of the remains of their fallen squad leader and the promise of buried treasure. These heroes battle forces of humanity and nature while confronted by the lasting ravages of the immorality of the Vietnam War.
Strike (Mekhi Phifer) is a young city drug pusher under the tutelage of drug lord Rodney Little (Delroy Lindo). When a night manager at a fast-food restaurant is found with four bullets in his body, Strike’s older brother (Isaiah Washington) turns himself in as the killer. Detective Rocco Klein (Harvey Keitel) doesn’t buy the story, however, setting out to find the truth, and it seems that all the fingers point toward Strike & Rodney.
A successful and married black man (Wesley Snipes) contemplates having an affair with a white girl (Annabella Sciorra) from work. He’s quite rightly worried that the racial difference would make an already taboo relationship even worse.
(L to R) Denzel Washington and Jodie Foster in ‘Inside Man’. Photo: Universal Pictures.
When an armed, masked gang enter a Manhattan bank, lock the doors and take hostages, the detective (Denzel Washington) assigned to effect their release enters negotiations preoccupied with corruption charges he is facing.
Colorado Springs, late 1970s. Ron Stallworth (John David Washington), an African American police officer, and Flip Zimmerman (Adam Driver), his Jewish colleague, run an undercover operation to infiltrate the Ku Klux Klan.
In New York City in the days following the events of 9/11, Monty Brogan (Edward Norton) is a convicted drug dealer about to start a seven-year prison sentence, and his final hours of freedom are devoted to hanging out with his closest buddies and trying to prepare his girlfriend (Rosario Dawson) for his extended absence.
A tribute to Malcolm X (Denzel Washington), the controversial black activist and leader of the struggle for black liberation. He hit bottom during his imprisonment in the ’50s, he became a Black Muslim and then a leader in the Nation of Islam. His assassination in 1965 left a legacy of self-determination and racial pride.
(L to R) Richard Edson, John Turturro and Spike Lee in ‘Do the Right Thing’. Photo: Universal Pictures.
Salvatore “Sal” Fragione (Danny Aiello) is the Italian owner of a pizzeria in Brooklyn. A neighborhood local, Buggin’ Out (Giancarlo Esposito), becomes upset when he sees that the pizzeria’s Wall of Fame exhibits only Italian actors. Buggin’ Out believes a pizzeria in a black neighborhood should showcase black actors, but Sal disagrees. The wall becomes a symbol of racism and hate to Buggin’ Out and to other people in the neighborhood, and tensions rise.
Remaking what is regarded as one of Akira Kurosawa’s best, bleakest, and most cynical films is a big swing, and Spike Lee boldly puts his own imprint on Kurosawa’s 1963 gem ‘High and Low.’ He updates it to the modern era and New York City, makes some changes to the story while keeping the central premise and dilemma more or less intact, and includes his usual grab-bag of distinctive trademarks – both for better and worse.
In the end, the biggest attraction is watching Lee once again collaborate with Denzel Washington for the fifth time and first since 2006’s ‘Inside Man.’ The latter delivers for his director in towering fashion, making this version of the story perhaps more of an epic character study than police drama. It remains compelling material, thanks in particular to Washington and Jeffrey Wright, even if Lee meanders off course with distracting asides, some uninspired staging, and one of the most overbearing and ill-fitting scores of the year.
Story and Direction
Denzel Washington in ‘Highest 2 Lowest’. Photo Credit: David Lee.
The plot of ‘Highest 2 Lowest’ follows that of ‘High and Low’ in the broad strokes. Washington plays legendary music mogul David King, who’s on the verge of selling his famous independent label, Stackin’ Hits Records, to a larger corporate concern (the protagonist owns a shoe company in the original). King’s peak years, when he made the cover of magazines regularly, are behind him, but he’s still worried that the sale will stamp out the label’s identity and “drain Black culture.” So he instead lays down his own personal assets – his savings, his stocks, and his properties, including his family’s luxury high-rise apartment in a riverfront Dumbo skyscraper – to buy Stackin’ Hits on his own, with the reluctant approval of his wife Pam (Ilfenesh Hadera) and business partner Patrick (Michael Potts).
The deal is about to go through when calamity strikes. David gets a call from a kidnapper (A$AP Rocky) who says he’s seized David and Pam’s teenage son Trey (Aubrey Joseph) and wants $17.5 million in Swiss francs in exchange for his life. David is ready to pivot from his deal and lay out all his money for his son’s safe return. But then it becomes apparent that Trey is okay and the kidnapper has mistakenly taken a boy named Kyle (Elijah Wright) – the son of David’s lifelong friend and driver, Paul (Jeffrey Wright).
Therein lies the moral dilemma at the heart of both film versions of this tale, as well as ‘King’s Ransom,’ the Ed McBain novel on which both are based. When it’s David’s son’s life on the line, he’s ready to pay up at a moment’s notice. But when it’s someone else’s child – even that of one of his closest friends – all of a sudden the loss of all that money that David was going to use to buy back Stackin’ Hits looms much larger in his mind. What makes ‘Highest 2 Lowest’ different from ‘High and Low’ is that this dilemma is resolved rather quickly – after a bit of soul-searching by David and some silent suffering from Paul, who seems to always be in the corner of David’s eye – and the moral aftermath is left more or less behind as ‘Highest 2 Lowest’ turns into a story of a once-powerful, gifted man who learns how to get his mojo back.
A$AP Rocky in ‘Highest 2 Lowest’. Photo Credit: David Lee.
That a lot of it works is a tribute to both Washington’s train-like forward motion and Lee’s increasingly energetic direction. The opening scenes of the film are weirdly static, not in an elegant fashion like the work of Kurosawa himself, but in a perfunctory, ‘just stick the camera here’ way. But Lee seems to find his rhythm as he goes along, and no one can shoot New York City quite like him (with the help of ace cinematographer Matthew Libatique). Speaking of trains, there is a suspenseful scene on an elevated car that homages the original movie but is undercut by cross-cutting to both an admittedly lovely Puerto Rican parade (and a few distracting cameos) plus throngs of Yankees fans filling up the train on the way to the stadium. These are things that Lee loves about his city but they prove a little jarring here. A later, climactic fight scene, also staged atop an elevated line, is much more successful.
Along the way, Lee touches on changes in the music industry, the content of music itself, whether fame on social media is a good thing or not (“attention is the biggest form of currency,” David says to his son), and the tensions inherent between the elite and working classes. It’s a lot, it doesn’t always cohere well, and it’s not helped by one of the most intrusive scores we’ve heard in some time. Howard Drossin’s loud orchestral cues continually threaten to swamp the movie, incessantly braying in the background to irritating effect.
Cast and Performances
Denzel Washington in ‘Highest 2 Lowest’. Photo Credit: David Lee.
Denzel Washington is in powerhouse form here, exuding a looseness and spontaneity that also charged his performance in 2024’s ‘Gladiator II.’ He embodies David King almost perfectly from start to finish, from the man’s narcissism to his empathy to his pride. In the end, King is a decent man of multitudes and action, even if he sometimes acts on impulses that can get him in trouble, making the moments when he shows uncertainty or selfishness all the more striking. Washington handles the character’s transformative arc with the skill and dexterity that only one of our greatest living actors could provide.
Equally sensational is Jeffrey Wright as Paul, another three-dimensional character whose pain over the fact that his child’s life is in the hands of the man who has been his benefactor up to this point is evident in his face and body. Paul and David are lifelong friends but separated in many ways by experience and fortune, and the former’s fear and anger are made palpable through Wright’s excellent portrayal. The two leads’ scenes together are among the best in the film.
The rest of the cast is a bit of a mixed bag. Ilfenesh Hadera is poised, warm, and elegant as Pam King, but the sense of her position and power in the family structure and as David’s trusted adviser is only intermittent. A$AP Rocky, meanwhile, makes a sharp impression as Yung Felon, the rapper-turned-kidnapper whose own life story is inextricably linked to David’s in ways that the latter only belatedly realizes. John Douglas Thompson, Michael Potts, and Wendell Pierce all bring regality and gravitas to their relatively minor roles, while Aubrey Joseph and Elijah Wright – as the two teen boys at the center of the story – are raw and real if somewhat unpolished.
While it’s a “remake” in the loosest sense of the word, any movie that finds Denzel Washington in a rhyme battle with A$AP Rocky with his life possibly on the line can’t be described as anything but original. But this also isn’t Spike Lee at either his sharpest or tightest (more recent examples of that would be ‘Da 5 Bloods’ and ‘BlacKkKlansman’), and the fact that the movie ends with not one but two musical numbers (each representing a direction that David could take with his career, toward easy commercialism or something more soulful) is a hint that Lee’s cinematic instincts are not always what they once were.
Still, those performances and Lee’s vaunted, improvisatory aesthetic keeps the movie crackling even when it threatens to collapse within itself. And the ideas contained within are thoughtful, important ones. Despite its name, the movie never hits either the highs or lows of the rest of Lee’s filmography – but with due respect to Kurosawa, it’s all Spike Lee.
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What is the plot of ‘Highest 2 Lowest’?
When a legendary music mogul (Denzel Washington), widely known as having the “best ears in the business,” is targeted with a ransom plot, he is caught up in a life-or-death moral dilemma in this reimagining of the great filmmaker Akira Kurosawa’s crime thriller ‘High and Low,’ now played out on the mean streets of modern-day New York City.
