By Any Means Revisits FBI Civil Rights Investigation

Elegance Bratton’s By Any Means dramatizes the alleged FBI recruitment of Colombo crime family enforcer Gregory Scarpa to help investigate the 1966 murder of civil rights leader Vernon Dahmer in Mississippi. Mark Wahlberg plays Scarpa alongside Yahya Abdul-Mateen II’s fictionalized Black FBI agent Wayne Strider, whose investigation forces him to confront the limits of institutional justice and the growing threat of white supremacist violence. The film centers on Strider’s shift from restrained law enforcement to Scarpa’s brutal methods, drawing on the tension between Martin Luther King Jr.’s nonviolence and Malcolm X’s call for action “by any means necessary.” Reviewers praised the film for highlighting a little-known chapter of civil rights history and for the performances, particularly Abdul-Mateen II’s evolving portrayal and Nicole Beharie’s strong supporting role. However, critics also found the film uneven, citing implausible plotting and, in one especially negative assessment, describing the viewing experience as exhausting despite its historical ambitions.