New Action Thriller ‘By Any Means’ Marries 1960s Civil-Rights Turmoil with Buddy-Cop Violence
‘By Any Means’ pairs Yahya Abdul-Mateen II as a rookie Black FBI agent with Mark Wahlberg’s mafia hitman in a blood-soaked thriller set against 1960s Southern civil-rights violence.
Elegance Bratton’s ‘By Any Means’ delivers a high-octane action narrative set amid the racial and political turmoil of the late 1960s American South. Yahya Abdul-Mateen II portrays a by-the-book Black FBI agent, Wayne Strider, who teams up with Mark Wahlberg’s Gregory Scarpa, a ruthless New York mafia hitman, to crack the 1966 fire-bombing murder of Mississippi NAACP leader Vernon Dahmer Sr. The investigation pits them against a Ku Klux Klan that infiltrates local law enforcement, prompting Scarpa to employ unchecked violence.
The film balances historical tension with stylized action, supported by strong turns from Nicole Beharie, LisaGay Hamilton and Giancarlo Esposito, and a period-rich soundtrack featuring Nina Simone, Ray Charles, Dinah Washington, Curtis Mayfield and an Isley Brothers-performed title song. Paramount Pictures released the R-rated feature on September 4, with a runtime of 107 minutes, earning three out of four stars.
Why it matters
The film illustrates how contemporary cinema revisits civil-rights history through a modern action lens, sparking dialogue on violence and justice.
In this story
