BY ANY MEANS (2026)

Genre: Thriller/Crime
Director: Elegance Bratton
Cast: Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Mark Wahlberg, Nicole Beharie, Josh Lucas, David Strathairn, Giancarlo Esposito, Ethan Embry
Runtime: 1 hr 47 mins
Rating: NC16 (Violence and Coarse Language)
Released By: Shaw Organisation
Official Website: 

Opening Day: 8 October 2026

Synopsis: By Any Means is a historical thriller set in 1966 Mississippi, inspired by true events. It follows Wayne Strider, a Black FBI agent newly posted to the Bureau's Jackson field office, as he navigates the deeply racist South while investigating the Ku Klux Klan's murder of civil rights activist Vernon Dahmer, a Black landowner and voting rights leader firebombed and killed on orders from White Knights Imperial Wizard Sam Bowers. Wayne is partnered with Greg Scarpa, a violent, morally unhinged FBI informant and Mob hitman who uses brutal interrogation and coercion to extract confessions. The two make an uneasy team: Wayne trying to uphold justice within a system stacked against him, and Scarpa operating entirely outside the law. Through their investigation, they risk their lives navigating corrupt officials and coercing Klan members into talking. In the end, they identify the men responsible for Dahmer's death; but Wayne's innocence is forever lost.

Movie Review:

Marky Mark, or otherwise better known as Mark Wahlberg, isn’t particularly known for his acting chops besides Boogie Nights and The Departed. But the former rapper, known for his dedicated and disciplined lifestyle, has been consistently churning out more movies than the average A-lister in Hollywood, and By Any Means marks his second release of 2026.

After sporting a hilarious combover in Flight Risk, Wahlberg puts on a prosthetic nose here for the role of real-life mobster and hitman Gregory Scarpa. Just to be clear, By Any Means is not a tell-all biography of Scarpa, unlike Johnny Depp’s portrayal of Whitey Bulger in Black Mass. Instead, it’s yet another Hollywood version of a true story, which involves Scarpa teaming up with a young African-American FBI agent, Wayne Strider (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II), to investigate the killing of civil rights activist Vernon Dahmer (Giancarlo Esposito) by a group of Klansmen.

Ironically, By Any Means is very much akin in terms of its setup to the Oscar-winning Green Book. An aggressive Italian gangster pairs up with a mild-mannered African-American. However, this is a far more violent version, despite the eerily familiar setting of two people sitting together in a car in the Deep South of 1960s Mississippi. Though fret not, there’s no fried chicken in tow.

Despite a provocative story about the Ku Klux Klan going around killing innocent Black Americans, By Any Means lacks the nuance needed to get its message across. Director Elegance Bratton and writer Sascha Penn take an in-your-face approach, delivering scene after scene of bloody violence, especially with Scarpa going berserk against those carrying out racist acts. Apparently, torture is the best way to retrieve clues and information.

Yahya Abdul-Mateen II’s Wayne Strider is an intriguing character, a by-the-book FBI agent with a supportive wife and a strong sense of duty until Scarpa’s ways of dispensing justice and interrogation tactics begin to blur the line. However, the screenplay fails to elevate his character beyond that of a generic cop, with Wahlberg constantly stealing the limelight with his over-the-top antics.

Ultimately, compared to Spike Lee’s BlacKkKlansman, which was also a crime movie about the notorious Ku Klux Klan, By Any Means isn’t particularly interesting as an investigative police drama nor particularly compelling as a crime flick. On the positive side, it moves fast and features Wahlberg once again hamming it up. Still, it should have been a lot better given the topic and material.

In an alternate reality, maybe Wahlberg should be playing the lead role in a full Gregory Scarpa biography.

Movie Rating:

(If you’re hungry for a Mark Wahlberg flick, by any means, go for it)

Review by Linus Tee