The following contains spoilers for Highest 2 LowestHighest 2 Lowest‘s final confrontation and musical coda both speak to the underlying themes of the Spike Lee film. A modern reimagining of the classic Japanese film High and Low, Highest 2 Lowest focuses on David King. A music mogul in the middle of a tricky business proposition, King’s plans are thrown into disarray when his son is seemingly kidnapped by a mysterious figure. The first half of the film is a тιԍнт character drama, while the second half shifts into a more action-driven storyline befitting King’s hunt for the kidnapper.

This builds to a confrontation between Denzel Washington’s David and A$AP Rocky’s Yung Felon, an aspiring rapper and longtime fan of King who decided to break the law to finally get what he feels he’s owed. It all plays well into the film’s modernization of High and Low‘s exploration of the wealthy and the impoverished, building to an intense confrontation and unexpected musical catharsis. Here’s how the ending of the critically acclaimed Highest 2 Lowest compares to the film that inspired it and what that final musical performance by Ice Spice’s Marisol really means.

Why David King Turns Down Making Music With Yung Felon

David King’s final meeting with Yung Felon ends with King refusing to make music with his ᴀssailant, which highlights the growth that King has experienced in the film. For much of Highest 2 Lowest, King remains concerned about his financial success and the security it provides his family, especially while trying to start a new music company.

King’s love for music is what propelled him to success in the first place, but he is reminded repeatedly in the film that he has lost connection with the music and art that inspired him in the first place. Over the course of the film, King is shown that money means little in the long run, with his own friends at his company going along with plans to cost him everything he has.

In the end, King has the chance to make one of the world’s most successful tracks with Yung Felon, who explains that he has become a mᴀssive star after being arrested for his crimes. If David was solely focused on the money, he would likely take the deal despite understanding how unstable and dangerous Yung Felon is.

However, after seeing how Yung Felon operates and imagining an over-produced song starring the rapper, King is unimpressed with him and turns him down. This small moment highlights King’s personal growth, which is only further exemplified in the subsequent scene between him, his family, and Marisol Cepeda.

Ice Spice’s Cameo: Who She Plays & Why She’s Important

Ice Spice plays Marisol Cepeda in Highest 2 Lowest, which is also her cinematic debut. Marisol is an aspiring musician who impressed David’s son, Trey. Convinced she has something special in her, Trey brings in Marisol as his first prospective client for David’s new company, which is explicitly set up to become a family business.

In contrast to Yung Felon’s highly edited tracks, Marisol’s more soulful and vulnerable performance clearly moves David, leading him to sign her as their first client in the film’s final moments. Marisol represents the completion of David’s arc, both as a father willing to listen to his son and as a producer who is just looking for music that moves him.

Marisol’s song even provides the тιтle of the film, with her song about changing one’s place in life тιтled “Highest 2 Lowest.” This underscores the importance of Marisol’s role in the finale, a living and breathing proof of David’s growth and his return to the art that used to (and seems to once again) define his professional pᴀssion.

Yung Felon’s Kidnapping Plan Explained

Yung Felon is eventually revealed to be an up-and-coming hip-hop artist from the same poor New York City neighborhoods that raised David and Paul. Despite his initally limited options for upward mobility, Yung Felon’s kidnapping scheme to extort a mᴀssive ransom from King proves to be surprisingly effective.

After seizing the opportunity to jump and capture the teenager they believe is Try, Yung Felon contacts King and demands a mᴀssive ransom. Even when his mistake is revealed, the kidnapper insists the ransom be paid in full. Despite the bag containing the fortune is set up with a police tracker, Yung Felon and his ᴀssociates use the natural chaos of the city to their advantage.

By ordering King to throw the money off the side of the train as part of the hand-off, Yung Felon reduces the risk of being spotted. Felon and his friends then use the Puerto Rican Pride Parade as a natural distraction, slowing down the police response. Then, they use multiple drivers to play a shell game with the cops, getting away with the cash at the cost of one captured conspirator.

It’s all around a nearly flawless plan, with even his insistence on the ransom being in a foreign currency ensuring that the authorities can’t easily track him. The only thing that gets Yung Felon caught is his earlier ambition. Having submitted his rap songs to David King in the past, Christopher’s comments about distinctive lyrics gives King a crucial clue in discovering who Yung Felon is.

What Happens To Paul & Christopher In Highest 2 Lowest?

Two of Highest 2 Lowest‘s most important side characters are Paul and his son Christopher. David’s long-time confidant and personal driver, Paul is treated as family by the Kings. This makes David’s reluctance to trade his fortune for Christopher’s life all the more heartbreaking, building to David’s decision to save Christopher and reaffirm his emotional bonds.

Although he was roughed up by Yung Felon and the other kidnappers, Christopher is returned alive and (fairly) well. Christopher is also shown to hold no ill will towards the Kings, underscoring the important connection between them. Paul doesn’t fare as well, although he does help ensure that David brings Yung Felon to justice.

Driving David to confront Yung Felon, Paul waits behind as a potential escape. When Yung Felon flees the scene, he opens fire on Paul. Paul is wounded, seemingly losing an eye in the process. However, he otherwise survives the ordeal. Although Paul is leaving David’s employ by the end of the film, his final scene in the film reaffirms his close bond with David.

How Spike Lee Updates Kurosawa’s Original Ending

Highest 2 Lowest is Spike Lee’s take on Akira Kurosawa’s High and Low. The setting has been updated from post-World War II Japan to 21st-century New York City, with the new film adding themes about artistry that were absent from the original. Otherwise, they largely follow the same overall arc. Notably, both films have functionally similar final confrontations for the hero and villain.

In High and Low, the final confrontation between Kingo Gondo and Ginjirō Takeuchi comes across as more pathetic. Ginjirō’s fascination and jealousy over Gondo give way to pathetic screaming and desperation. Highest 2 Lowest sees the confrontation take a more aggressive approach, with Yung Felon left furious by King’s dismissal.

This highlights the biggest changes between Highest 2 Lowest and High and Low, as the modernization of the story gives Yung Felon a greater feeling of fury over his situation. Both he and Ginjirō were jealous of the lifestyles of the “high” world while being trapped below in the “low,” but Yung Felon’s fury is more pointed and aggressive in a way that reflects a more modern sensibility.

The True Meaning Of Highest 2 Lowest

Highest 2 Lowest touches on a lot of subjects that have appeared in Spike Lee’s various films over the years. Chief among them is an exploration of the social inequities between the wealthy and the poor, which is what propels Yung Felon to attack King’s family in the first place. There’s also the clear tension between the police and the public.

The true meaning of Highest 2 Lowest seems to be a commentary on the way art has been commodified, especially in the kind of industries that have made King wealthy. King is established as someone who cares deeply about music and art, but who has come to only register it as an investment in recent years. This detracts from the meaning of the music.

This is why he wants to step away from the company he runs in the beginning of Highest 2 Lowest, and why it’s so important for him to rediscover his pᴀssions through the music of Marisol at the end of the film. By contrast, Yung Felon seems to only want the perks that come with success, his festering frustration over being “ignored” prompting him to become a criminal.

Yung Felon’s braggadocious lyrics are a far cry from the more soulful singing of Marisol, highlighting the value of the pᴀssion the artist brings to the project. This authenticity and humanity is key to David’s decision to save Christopher. His decision to revisit the music he’s been ignoring even leads him to realize that Yung Felon is the criminal he’s hunting.

That human element is crucial to life, both in art and in the bonds that connect us. This is David’s true arc in the film, rediscovering his roots and finding the pᴀssion that he longed for in the film’s opening scenes. It’s a key aspect of Highest 2 Lowest and one of the film’s main thematic elements.