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By Any Means

By Any Means

Thriller · History · Crime · 2026

In 1960s Mississippi, a young Black FBI agent is forced to partner with a notorious mafia hitman to investigate a wave of brutal civil rights murders.

Movie details

By Any Means

“The FBI couldn't crack it. So they called in the mob.”

2026 Thriller · History · Crime 1h 47m

Critical arithmetic

The consensus, allegedly.

Rotten Tomatoes

50 %

Tomatometer

TMDB

6.6 / 10

Community rating

External scores via OMDb · CC BY-NC 4.0. Values normalized for display; availability varies by title.

In 1960s Mississippi, a young Black FBI agent is forced to partner with a notorious mafia hitman to investigate a wave of brutal civil rights murders.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over By Any Means?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

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Mississippi Burning

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Two FBI agents investigating the murder of civil rights workers during the 60s seek to breach the conspiracy of silence in a small Southern town where segregation divides black and white. The younger agent trained in FBI school runs up against the small town ways of his partner, a former sheriff.

BlacKkKlansman

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Donnie Brasco

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Crime · 1997

An FBI undercover agent infiltrates the mob and identifies more with the mafia life at the expense of his regular one.

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In 1934, Frank Hamer and Manny Gault, two former Texas Rangers, are commissioned to put an end to the wave of vicious crimes perpetrated by Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow, a notorious duo of infamous robbers and cold-blooded killers who nevertheless are worshiped by the public.

The Order

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Lawless

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Crime · 2012

In 1931, the Bondurant brothers of Franklin County, Virginia, run a multipurpose backwoods establishment that hides their true business — bootlegging. Middle brother Forrest is the brain of the operation; older Howard is the brawn, and younger Jack, the lookout. Though the local police have taken bribes and left the brothers alone, a violent war erupts when a sadistic lawman from Chicago arrives and tries to shut down the Bondurants operation.

Son of the South

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In civil rights era Montgomery, Alabama, Klansman's grandson Bob Zellner must choose which side of history to be on during the Movement. Defying his family and white Southern norms, he fought against social injustice, repression and violence to change the world around him

The Alto Knights

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Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

Elegance Bratton

Written by

Sascha Penn

Yahya Abdul-Mateen II

Yahya Abdul-Mateen II

Wayne Strider

Mark Wahlberg

Mark Wahlberg

Gregory Scarpa

Nicole Beharie

Nicole Beharie

Allison Strider

Josh Lucas

Josh Lucas

Special Agent Everett Rhodes

David Strathairn

David Strathairn

Special Agent Roy K. Moore

Giancarlo Esposito

Giancarlo Esposito

Vernon Dahmer

Ethan Embry

Ethan Embry

Sam Bowers

Court is in session

Put By Any Means on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Auteur Devotee

“Form is the argument.”

Every composed frame and deliberate cut is evidence that control can be thrilling in its own right.

The prosecution The Popcorn Loyalist

“Technique in search of a pulse.”

Immaculate construction is still construction. The film may be too busy proving its craft to feel alive.