--- title: "By Any Means: the reviews" canonical: "https://film.one/film/by-any-means/reviews" title_page: "https://film.one/film/by-any-means" critics_score: 42 critics_reviews: 7 licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # By Any Means (2026): what the critics said Critics' score 42 from 7 reviews: 1 positive, 2 mixed, 4 negative. Most critics are unconvinced. Bratton’s 1966 Mississippi thriller, which pairs a Black FBI agent with a mob hitman against the Klan, is found to reach for the weight of civil rights history and settle for buddy-cop beats and spectacle. Where praise gathers, it gathers around Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, whom several reviews single out as the steadier presence, and a few concede that the violence delivers rough, crowd-pleasing thrills. The reservations cluster on two points: Mark Wahlberg’s performance, called hammy, unconvincing or surface-level by most, and a script that raises questions about when brutality is justified and then loses interest in them. The spread is narrow, with most reviews sitting in mixed-to-negative territory. The one clear dissent is The Wrap, which finds an uneven but durable crime drama that works as both history and thriller. The New Yorker is the most divided, calling it often stirring and often infuriating. ## The AV Club — Monica Castillo Rating C-. 4 September 2026. The Civil Rights-era thriller has potential in its premise of an FBI agent teaming with a violent enforcer against Klansmen, but it loses interest in moral questions and leans into spectacle and tired script beats. Wahlberg’s hammy performance overshadows stronger work from Abdul-Mateen II. [Read the review](https://www.avclub.com/by-any-means-review) ## The New Yorker — Richard Brody Fi1m's normalised score 50/100 (inferred from the text). 4 September 2026. The film is often stirring but often infuriating, shaping a Machiavellian worldview as an action movie with types rather than fully realized lives. It honors the struggles it dramatizes at its best moments but relies on convenient plot devices. [Read the review](https://www.newyorker.com/culture/the-front-row/the-principled-cynicism-of-by-any-means) ## Vulture Fi1m's normalised score 40/100 (inferred from the text). 4 September 2026. The film pairs a Black FBI agent with a mob hitman in a messy, Green Book-adjacent story about violence in the civil rights era, but Wahlberg’s unconvincing performance and the script’s failure to develop its characters undermine any deeper exploration. It amounts to an uneasy argument for brutality when convenient. [Read the review](https://www.vulture.com/article/mark-wahlberg-wishes-he-were-unrecognizable-in-by-any-means.html) ## IndieWire — Christian Zilko Fi1m's normalised score 30/100 (inferred from the text). 3 September 2026. Bratton turns tragic American history into classic buddy-cop tropes with Mark Wahlberg and Yahya Abdul-Mateen II. The film selectively blends true events into entertaining popcorn fare but struggles with its moral and historical weight. [Read the review](https://www.indiewire.com/2026/09/by-any-means-review/) ## The Hollywood Reporter — Angie Han Fi1m's normalised score 30/100 (inferred from the text). 3 September 2026. The film pairs a Black FBI agent with a mob hitman in 1966 Mississippi for an uneasy alliance against Klan violence, but familiar thriller beats clash awkwardly with the historical premise. It delivers occasional nasty thrills and strong performances from Abdul-Mateen II but remains shallow overall. [Read the review](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-reviews/by-any-means-review-mark-wahlberg-yahya-abdul-mateen-ii-1236687106/) ## The New York Times — Ben Kenigsberg Fi1m's normalised score 30/100 (inferred from the text). 3 September 2026. The film is caught between earnestness and exploitation as a civil rights picture. Wahlberg as the mafia hitman provides crowd-pleasing revenge violence and fish-out-of-water humor. [Read the review](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/09/03/movies/by-any-means-review.html) ## The Wrap Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 3 September 2026. The critic finds the film an uneven but durable crime drama that works as a historical drama and buddy cop thriller, praising Yahya Abdul-Mateen II's standout performance while noting Wahlberg's more surface-level acting and some unfulfilling elements in the climax. [Read the review](https://www.thewrap.com/creative-content/movies/by-any-means-review-yahya-abdul-mateen-ii-mark-wahlberg/) --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Our review: https://film.one/film/by-any-means.md