Rain on the courthouse steps. A federal badge in one man’s pocket, underworld violence in another man’s past, and a Mississippi investigation that appears to leave conventional justice far behind. By Any Means arrives with the hard-edged promise of an unlikely alliance thriller, pairing Yahya Abdul-Mateen II and Mark Wahlberg in a story inspired by real events.
By Any Means (2026)
Release at a Glance
- US release: 4 September 2026
- Where: In cinemas
- Director: Elegance Bratton
- Writer: Sascha Penn
- Stars: Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Mark Wahlberg, Nicole Beharie, Josh Lucas and Giancarlo Esposito
- Studio: Paramount Pictures
Watch the Official Trailer
Confirmed So Far
The film follows a young Black FBI agent sent into 1960s Mississippi to investigate a wave of killings targeting civil-rights leaders. The assignment forces him into an alliance with notorious Mafia hitman Greg Scarpa, creating a hunt in which official procedure, personal vengeance and the limits of the law begin to collide. Paramount’s positioning is deliberately blunt: these are two men divided by almost everything, but united by the belief that a broken system will not deliver justice on its own.
Abdul-Mateen II leads the federal side of that divide, with Wahlberg playing Scarpa. Nicole Beharie, Josh Lucas, LisaGay Hamilton, LaChanze, Ethan Embry, David Strathairn and Giancarlo Esposito complete the announced ensemble. Elegance Bratton directs from a screenplay by Sascha Penn.
The True-Story Featurette
The separate featurette places the film’s historical inspiration at the centre of the conversation. It is best approached as context rather than a promise of documentary reconstruction: the dramatic tension comes from the uneasy partnership, while the real-world backdrop gives every compromise greater weight.
Official Stills Gallery
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What to Look For
The central attraction is the clash of methods. One protagonist carries institutional authority into a place where that authority has failed; the other operates beyond the law and brings a different kind of danger into the investigation. That tension gives Bratton room to make the partnership more than a familiar odd-couple mechanism. The most interesting question is not whether the men can work together, but what working together costs each of them.
The marketing also suggests a tactile period thriller rather than a polished history lesson. Stark black-and-yellow artwork, rain-darkened streets, close interiors and watchful compositions put pressure on the characters before any violence arrives. With Beharie and Esposito among a formidable supporting cast, the film has the opportunity to widen its moral frame beyond the two men at its centre.
Spoiler-Free Preview Verdict
By Any Means has the ingredients of a muscular crime thriller, but its real promise lies in the discomfort beneath the hook: a federal investigation, a Mafia enforcer and a pursuit of justice that may demand methods neither man can cleanly defend. If Bratton keeps that moral friction alive, this could be one of September’s most compelling studio releases.
Does the uneasy alliance draw you in, or is it the true-story setting and ensemble cast that makes By Any Means one to watch?