By Any Means Review: Gritty Civil Rights Revenge Thriller is Trapped in the Past

Get the Latest in Movies, TV, Gaming and More — First! Join 100K+ fans and never miss breaking news, fan theories, trailers and exclusive content. By Any Means is an intriguing sort of civil rights film in that it wants to be something as brutal as the reality of the post-Jim Crow era South. It also wants to provide the satisfying release of violence that allows for a cathartic type of revenge to play out on screen. In that way, it makes for an engaging watch, but at the same time, there's something dour and mean-spirited about it all that never allows it to live up to what it could be. The film stars Yahya Abdul-Mateen II as Special Agent Wayne Strider, an FBI agent seeking a crackdown on the Ku Klux Klan in 1966 Mississippi following the murder of local NAACP leader Vernon Dahmer, played in a brief turn by Giancarlo Esposito. This town is rough, and racism runs deep, so Strider needs the help of an outside force. That assistance comes in the unlikely form of Gregory Scarpa, a rough-and-tumble Italian mafia hitman from New York, played by Mark Wahlberg. In many ways, the project mirrors classic buddy movies of this era. You have the white outsider learning the painful realities of the Black experience, while the Black agent is constantly struggling to get by within a hostile system. Director Elegance Bratton leans into the tropes of this subgenre, allowing for a few fun character moments as Strider learns the street ways of Scarpa, and vice versa. Yet By Any Means sets a harsher tone early on, making it clear that it's willing to pursue justice by any means necessary. The movie lives up to its title. These characters are willing to get direct, bloody revenge on violent racists, and there's something satisfying about seeing that retribution play out on screen. Many historical dramas about the civil rights movement are accurate in their portrayal of the frustrating absence of relief, and Bratton intentionally pushes against that trend. From a pure production perspective, the craft behind the camera helps keep the tension simmering. Bratton recreates this world of 1966 Mississippi with astonishing tactile accuracy, capturing the suffocating, sun-baked dread of a region ruled by terror. Often it's easy to overlook what goes into building that physical atmosphere. Ante Cheng's grounded cinematography lends the town a lived-in, period-accurate grime, while Terence Blanchard's resonant score provides emotional gravitas. That technical precision extends to the actors tasked with portraying the local Klansmen. It takes commitment to lean into pure, unvarnished hatred on camera, and their vile turns lend genuine stakes to every confrontation. Penned by screenwriter Sascha Penn, the script feels like it wants to be everything to everyone. It wants to be, in parts, funny and dynamic, in parts intense and full of action, and yet serious and harrowing about its real-world history. It achieves all these different modes to an odd degree. As the story progresses, it becomes increasingly bleak, completely overshadowing the pulpier energy of its first half. Not that a story dealing with Klan terrorism has to be fun, but the movie invites you to enjoy its buddy-cop dynamic before drowning it in heavy, self-serious misery. Abdul-Mateen is strong here, bringing grounded dignity to Strider. The character is written oddly, largely because he's an invented archetype loosely modeled after real-life agent Lindley DeVecchio rather than a fully fleshed-out human being. This makes him feel more like a narrative placeholder than a compelling lead. Gregory Scarpa is a real historical figure, though nothing on screen is quite as distracting as Mark Wahlberg buried under heavy facial prosthetics. Wahlberg is fine in spots, and I found myself coming around to his performance as the tension escalated, but neither lead manages to elevate the material beyond its predictable rhythm. Is By Any Means worth watching? When the film gets gritty and lets its action breathe, it delivers decent thrills. Still, the entire package feels dated, like a 2000s crime thriller that Paramount is unceremoniously burying on the late-summer calendar. By Any Means is a decent, occasionally cathartic historical thriller, but its disjointed tone keeps it from making a lasting mark. By Any Means releases in theaters on September 4. FW Standards: Trust Principles