By Any Means (2026 film)

Summarize Fact Check

In 1964, three Mississippi civil rights activists disappear without a trace during the summer. Federal bureau supervisor Roy K. Moore demands swift answers from regional agents. Moore sends ruthless Brooklyn mob enforcer Greg Scarpa south to assist. Scarpa uses physical coercion upon a local Ku Klux Klansman inside a warehouse. The mobster strikes the suspect repeatedly until he talks openly, giving coordinates where victims lie buried under thick red soil.

In Hattiesburg in 1966, civil activist Vernon Dahmer helps local Black citizens register to vote safely. Klansmen ride past his home at midnight and throw burning gasoline cans while opening fire. Dahmer helps his family escape safely through a rear window, but he dies from burns and smoke inhalation the next morning. As his grieving wife Hattie mourns beside neighbor Rebecca Brewer outdoors, a young Black FBI agent, Wayne Strider, arrives to investigate.

Strider moves south with his supportive wife Allison. Moore and Agent Everett Rhodes assign Strider to direct efforts. The local residents refuse federal interviews due to fear of local deputies. Moore assigns Scarpa to partner with Strider.

Strider believes strict legal bounds bring true justice through proper courtrooms, while Scarpa mocks rules and uses coercion to obtain total compliance. Scarpa recites quotes from Malcolm X to justify ruthless choices. Together, they traverse small rural towns searching for active Klan operatives. Scarpa grabs suspects off streets and drags them into blinding spots, where he threatens them at gunpoint to extract names.

Strider watches in dismay as Scarpa breaks federal laws without hesitation, but terrified witnesses begin leaking critical names about the night bombing. The evidence points directly toward Sam Bowers and his local gang. Scarpa corners Bowers alone and forces a confession using physical force. The federal agents raid hidden hideouts across county lines near midnight, while the sheriff deputies facing evidence can no longer protect the Klan killers.

Bowers and multiple Klan members are arrested for Dahmer's death. Strider achieves justice but feels greatly unsettled by federal hypocrisy, pondering his future career path. He realizes systemic prejudice runs through federal law enforcement agencies. Scarpa collects his cash payout from federal agents before leaving town and returning to New York. The Mississippi community honors Vernon Dahmer, with Hattie vowing to continue registration efforts for local voters daily. Strider accepts that law enforcement demands tough compromises every day, and justice arrives only when people push beyond ordinary legal bounds.

• Mark Wahlberg as Gregory Scarpa, mafia hitman turned FBI informant
• Yahya Abdul-Mateen II as Special FBI Agent Wayne Strider, loosely based on real life FBI agent Lindley DeVecchio
• Nicole Beharie as Allison Strider
• Giancarlo Esposito as Vernon Dahmer
• Josh Lucas as Special Agent Everett Rhodes
• David Strathairn as Special Agent Roy K. Moore
• Ethan Embry as Sam Bowers
• LisaGay Hamilton as Ms. Rebecca Brewer
• LaChanze as Hattie Dahmer

The film is directed by Elegance Bratton and produced by Hammerstone Studios, Thunder Road Films, Freedom Principle, and North.Five.Six. It is based on the 2018 Black List script CI-34, from Sascha Penn and Theodore Witcher. Alex Lebovici is producing for Hammerstone Studios, alongside Basil Iwanyk and Erica Lee for Thunder Road Films, Chester Algernal Gordon for Freedom Principle, Stephen Levinson, and Mark Wahlberg for the Closest to the Hole Production banner. Wahlberg also co-leads the cast, initially alongside Sterling K. Brown. In February 2025, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II joined the cast, replacing Brown, due to scheduling conflicts.^[6][7]

Principal photography began on April 15, 2025 in Atlanta, Georgia,^[8][9] with Ante Cheng serving as the cinematographer.^[10] In April, Nicole Beharie, Giancarlo Esposito, Josh Lucas, David Strathairn, Ethan Embry, LisaGay Hamilton, and LaChanze joined the cast.^[11] In May, Bright White Light boarded the film.^[12] Filming wrapped on June 17, 2025.^[13]

Sascha Penn received sole writing credit for the film, with additional literary material (not on-screen) credited to Arash Amel, Elegance Bratton, Andrew Ferguson, and Theodore Witcher.^[14]

In April 2026, Paramount Pictures acquired the U.S. distribution rights. By Any Means premiered on September 1, 2026 at the Paramount Pictures Studios in Los Angeles, and theatrically released in the United States by Paramount Pictures on September 4, 2026.^[15][16]

Critical response

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 53% of 51 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 5.4/10.^[17] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 50 out of 100, based on 19 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews.^[18]