The Stream: What is on Mark Wahlberg’s face?!?

The Big Screen: Yahya and Marky Mark make a good pair.

The Final Bill: A powerful story with an emotional hook is worth seeing.

– Trip Fontaine
Director: Elegance Bratton
Writers: Sascha Penn
Stars: Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Mark Wahlberg, Nicole Beharie, David Strathairn, Josh Lucas, LisaGay Hamilton, Ethan Embry, Giancarlo Esposito, LaChanze
Genre: Action, Crime, Thriller
Rating: R for violence/bloody images and pervasive language
Runtime: 1 hour 40 minutes
Production Companies: Thunder Road Pictures, Hammerstone Studios, Ballpoint Productions, Filmhouse Pictures, Municipal Pictures
Platform: In theaters September 4, 2026
Notable Trailers: Street Fighter, Heart of the Beast, Ali G: Who Iz I?

What’s up, Streamers! There’s a lot going on in the world of film even though early September releases can feel like afterthoughts. That doesn’t mean these films can’t be worthwhile. For instance, By Any Means was released last weekend to little fanfare, but it has an interesting story worthy of highlighting. In this movie, it is 1966 when Wayne Strider, (Yahya Abul-Mateen II), a local Special Agent for the FBI, teams up with a hitman for the mafia who has turned into an FBI informant, Greg Scarpa (Mark Wahlberg), to investigate the death of a prominent Black leader in Mississippi. Bloody, racially fraught hijinks ensue.

The story in By Any Means is loosely based on true events, which makes the plot of this film intriguing even though some aspects are unbelievable. This story is another one from the Civil Rights Era that is not widely known and is a frustrating part of American history. It is worth depicting but creative license used in making these movies can be tricky. There are some characters that do things that don’t make sense, and it doesn’t feel as dangerous for Agent Strider as it should have been. Despite that, Yahya plays Strider with a strength and vulnerability that is resonant with the material. His character develops over the course of the film due to his connection with Scarpa and builds into a tough and powerful force. He also has great chemistry with Nicole Beharie who plays Strider’s wife. She is a bright spot whenever she’s on screen though she doesn’t have much to do. My biggest gripe with the movie is that Scarpa is played too comedically at times. It feels out of place. The makeup used on Wahlberg to make him look more like Scarpa is distracting and ridiculous. That seems unnecessary. Also, the cinematography is too dark at times. It can be very hard to see what’s going on in some of the scenes at night and there is a car chase that is impossible to follow.

Ultimately, By Any Means is a decent movie that depicts an interesting story about how justice can be achieved by any means. This movie isn’t doing anything new, but it does have a strong lead in Mateen who has good chemistry with Wahlberg. Despite some flaws in the makeup and cinematography, the movie will hold your interest while highlighting another frustrating story from American history. Grab a bowl of popcorn for this one.