The final trailer for By Any Means has arrived, and while the previous trailers gave an indicator of the plot, and the extent of the violence, this latest preview offers a more palatable, TV-friendly look at what could be one of the more intriguing crime thrillers of the year. With the trailer crediting one of the producers of Sicario, The Town, and John Wick (poor Basil Iwanyk deserves to be mentioned by name), this is perhaps the most telling indicator of what kind of tone audiences should expect.
The film throws Mark Wahlberg and Yahya Abdul-Mateen II together in a story of murder, racism, organized crime and an investigation that sees the emergence of two very unlikely allies, and forcing them to work together.
Based on a true story, By Any Means follows Wayne Strider (Abdul-Mateen II), a young Black FBI agent looking into the murders of several civil rights workers in 1960s Mississippi. When the investigation hits a wall, he is forced to turn to an “unorthodox” source of help – Gregory Scarpa (Wahlberg,) an infamous Mafia hitman, described as: “one of the most ruthless mobsters in history.” The trailer makes it clear that this is not going to be your typical FBI procedural.
There is a distinct Mississippi Burning feel to the film, particularly in its depiction of racial tensions and the violence that ensues as a result, as well as the story of an investigation unfolding in hostile Southern communities. But By Any Means looks like a much more modern, accessible take on the territory explored in Alan Parker’s classic. For a start, the action-packed trailer promises a great deal more shootouts, fights and car chases, and the tone seems a lot more intense and contemporary, with Abdul-Mateen II dryly commenting at one point: “Let these crackers know there’s consequences.” It seems clear that, while the film won’t shy away from the racial realities of its setting, director Elegance Bratton is also affording her protagonist a little more bravado.
Elsewhere, it seems that Abdul-Mateen II will largely be playing the straight man to Wahlberg’s decidedly more colorful character. Gunning down several people, and engaging in a nasty-looking torture scene, Wahlberg is almost unrecognizable beneath a conspicuous prosthetic nose, with his eccentric appearance and violent outbursts promising a performance to rival his Oscar-nominated turn in The Departed.
-
Paramount -
Paramount
By Any Means looks set to mix the historical drama with several other familiar genres. Tonally, there are elements of Green Book in the unlikely partnership between the two leads, while the murky world of corrupt institutions, criminals and morally compromised law enforcement recalls L.A. Confidential, with the trailer featuring at least one shootout that wouldn’t look out of place in that film.
What makes the movie particularly interesting is the tension between its serious historical setting and the pulpy premise. A Black FBI agent and a Mafia hitman teaming up to solve a series of killings sounds like the set-up for a buddy-cop movie, yet the events surrounding the investigation are rooted in the very real violence and political turmoil of 1960s America. Bratton herself has commented on this unlikely alliance, saying: “This is a story of unlikely alliances forged under impossible circumstances – where justice is not clean, and truth comes at a cost.”
In this way, the film even sounds reminiscent of Sinners, in the way both use genre cinema to approach serious political and social themes. By Any Means appears to be taking a similarly entertaining route into difficult subject matter, even if its approach looks considerably more grounded in reality.
The screenplay comes from Sascha Penn, best known for his work on Power and Creed II, while the supporting cast includes Nicole Beharie, David Strathairn, Giancarlo Esposito, Josh Lucas, and Ethan Embry.
By Any Means is scheduled to hit theaters on Sept. 4, and if the trailer is any indication, audiences can expect a crime thriller that combines the atmosphere of a civil-rights-era drama with the tension and violence of a Mafia movie – an unlikely combination that could make this one worth a watch.
- Release Date
-
September 4, 2026
- Director
-
Elegance Bratton
- Writers
-
Elegance Bratton, Sascha Penn, Theodore Witcher
This story originally appeared on Movieweb
