6.8
Viewer Rating
Combines user and critic ratings from four sources
Drama, Thriller, History • 2026 • 107 min • Adults (18+)
By Any Means (2026)
By Any Means (2026)
Overview
Set in 1960s Mississippi, this R-rated historical thriller follows a young Black FBI agent who teams up with real-life mafia hitman Greg Scarpa to hunt down killers targeting civil rights leaders. Directed by Elegance Bratton, the film draws on documented FBI history while framing the era's white Southern power structures as the machinery of racial terror. The Progressive label fits because the story centers Black victims of systemic violence, positions the federal government as inadequate, and treats extralegal vengeance as the only path to justice the system refused to deliver. The Wahlberg and Abdul-Mateen II pairing adds a buddy-thriller layer, but the civil rights backdrop keeps the political weight firmly in view.
Starring Cast
Mark Wahlberg • Giancarlo Esposito • Yahya Abdul-Mateen II
Where to watch
Fandango
Powered byRating & Dimensions
Bias Rating
Analyzing...
Progressive
Political: Leans Left
Diversity: High
Family Values: Mixed
Viewer Rating
6.8
Overview
Set in 1960s Mississippi, this R-rated historical thriller follows a young Black FBI agent who teams up with real-life mafia hitman Greg Scarpa to hunt down killers targeting civil rights leaders. Directed by Elegance Bratton, the film draws on documented FBI history while framing the era's white Southern power structures as the machinery of racial terror. The Progressive label fits because the story centers Black victims of systemic violence, positions the federal government as inadequate, and treats extralegal vengeance as the only path to justice the system refused to deliver. The Wahlberg and Abdul-Mateen II pairing adds a buddy-thriller layer, but the civil rights backdrop keeps the political weight firmly in view.
Starring Cast
Mark Wahlberg • Giancarlo Esposito • Yahya Abdul-Mateen II
Where to watch
Fandango
Powered byDetailed Bias Analysis
Analyzing...
Progressive
Primary
Political: Leans Left
Confidence: Medium
By Any Means follows a Black FBI agent and a mafia hitman who join forces in 1960s Mississippi to hunt down killers targeting civil rights leaders, showing how personal vengeance and extralegal tactics fill gaps left by a broken system.
Diversity: High
Confidence: Medium
By Any Means centers a Black FBI agent investigating the murders of civil rights leaders amid the racial violence of 1960s Mississippi, framing white Southern society as the source of systemic brutality and injustice.
Secondary
Family Values: Mixed
Confidence: Low
By Any Means centers its story on high-stakes action and thriller elements set against the civil rights era, leaving family structures, parenting, and domestic relationships largely unexamined.
LGBTQ: N/A
Confidence: Low
By Any Means centers on a mafia hitman and a Black FBI agent investigating civil rights murders in 1966 Mississippi. The story blends history, buddy dynamics, and revenge elements without introducing any LGBTQ+ characters or themes.
Trans: N/A
Confidence: Low
By Any Means centers on an FBI agent and a mob hitman investigating murders of civil rights leaders in Mississippi, with no transgender characters or themes present in the story.
Female Combat: N/R
The movie does not contain any action or adventure elements.
Gender Swap: No
Confidence: Low
By Any Means portrays its central characters, including the historical mafia hitman Greg Scarpa, in line with documented genders from the historical record and source material.
Race Swap: No
Confidence: Low
By Any Means centers on a Black FBI agent investigating civil rights murders in 1960s Mississippi alongside the historical white mafia figure Greg Scarpa. No established character from prior canon, source material, or documented history is recast with an actor of a different race.
Hinduism: N/A
Confidence: Low
Not depicted.
Viewer Rating Breakdown
User Ratings
6.8
8.6
Critic Ratings
N/A
5.0
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