BY ANY MEANS

(director/writer: Elegance Bratton; screenwriter: Sascha Penn; cinematographer: Ante Cheng; editor: ; music: ; cast: Mark Wahlberg (Greg Scarpa),Yahya Abdul-Mateen II
(Wayne Strider), Nicole Beharie (Allison Strider), David Strathairn (Special Agent Roy K. Moore), Giancarlo Esposito (Vernon Dahmer), Josh Lucas (Special Agent Everett Rhodes), LisaGay Hamilton (Ms. Rebecca Brewer, reluctant white witness); Runtime: 107; MPAA Rating: R; producers: Elegance Bratton, Alex Lebovici, Erica Lee, Basil Iwanyk, Stephen Levinson, Mark Wahlberg; Paramount Pictures; 2026)

“Shallow civil rights drama.”

Reviewed by Dennis Schwartz
 
A bloody, muddled, over-the-top, and shallow civil rights drama set in the segregated south of the 1960s by Black filmmaker Elegance Bratton (“Hell Fighter”), that he co-writes with Sascha Penn.

In January 1966, in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, Vernon F. Dahmer Sr. (Giancarlo Esposito), a N.A.A.C.P. leader, fighting for Black voter registration, is burned on the cross by the KKK and the FBI investigation is led by the mild-mannered, impassioned, newly arrived native Mississippian, a fictional character, who was living in Chicago. He’s a do it by-the-book Black agent named Wayne Strider (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II), who has on his team a bad-ass wild man, the former Mafia hit man from Brooklyn, the flashy Greg Scarpa (Mark Wahlberg). He’s a hater of the KKK but has no love for Blacks (he’s based on a real character).

Wayne’s Chicago wife Allison (Nicole Beharie) fully supports him. Special Agent Roy K. Moore (Special Agent Roy K. Moore) is the FBI boss of these investigators, who has not in the past gone after white racist groups.

Though based on a true story, I was never convinced it wasn’t an exploitation film. But in its favor, it’s visually affecting and the action scenes were entertaining.

REVIEWED ON 9/23/2026  GRADE: C+
dennisschwartzreviews.com