By Grady Andersen, Staff Writer 

“By Any Means” was a sneakily surprising movie, and it may be one of the top movies released this year. 

“By Any Means” stars Mark Wahlberg and Yahya Abdul-Mateen II in 1960s Mississippi. Based on the murder of Vernon Dahmer, a civil rights activist, the FBI brings in a mobster, Wahlberg’s Greg Scarpa, to help Mateen’s Wayne Strider solve who exactly killed this community leader. Throughout the movie, Scarpa bends the rules, using violence to get answers.  

Strider, very early on, is not a fan of the way Scarpa does things but slowly grows and starts to realize that, in order to solve this murder, he must get his hands a little dirty. This happens up until Scarpa goes a step too far, providing the huge climax with Strider abandoning Scarpa in the middle of the road. 

For a story that does not have a lot of public information, the way director Elegance Bratton is able to establish stakes early on for Mateen’s character without only playing the race card is impressive. He is shown to have a personal connection with Dahmer, attending a rally where he announces he will pay for others’ poll taxes, the crux that causes his murder and then has dinner with him and his family. 

There are a lot of mentions of Strider, but not of his character’s name. This is due to no known knowledge of the specific person who worked with the FBI and Scarpa in Mississippi. The only thing confirming this agent exists is firsthand accounts from Scarpa’s family, causing Mateen to have to head canon a lot of his characters’ motivations and actions. 

“I knew that he was going to be a guy who had a lot of pressure on him and a lot of pressure to make a decision and to possibly change from one perspective to the other,” Mateen said to USA Today. “So I wanted to justmake sure that he stood out as a strong character. You know that he had integrity and that he stood for something. So that when he made a choice, eventually, to compromise that perspective or to shift that perspective, that it was really earned.” 

He does an excellent job in his performance and is able to convey his feelings not only in the way he talks, but in his facial expressions and mannerisms as well. He does not pull any punches, both literally and figuratively, as he uses his resources extremely well and is able to show true anger and hatred near the end of the film.  

The soundtrack and cinematography also do not disappoint one bit. A strong mix of jazz and iconic civil rights movement artists provide the feel of being properly in the era. With music playing in the background for nearly the whole movie, save for the action scenes, its like you have been transported back 60 years.  

There are a lot of moving action shots with the camera, following the protagonists as they assume the roles of vigilantes in the third act. Combined with great close-up shots to express Strider’s anger during the last interrogation scene, it would not be a surprise to see this movie considered for a cinematography award. 

Overall, “By Any Means” is a strong movie that tells a compelling story about one of the most divisive times in America’s history and it is definitely worth the watch.