{
  "id": 5382141,
  "title": "‘By Any Means’ Review: Mark Wahlberg Teaches the Virtues of Violence in Elegance Bratton’s Bluntly Drawn Historical Thriller",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/03/by-any-means-review-mark-wahlberg-teaches-the-virtues-of-violence-in",
  "topic": "culture",
  "section": "Culture",
  "published": "2026-09-03T18:12:37.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Variety",
    "slug": "variety",
    "url": "https://variety.com/2026/film/reviews/by-any-means-review-mark-wahlberg-1236850708/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": null,
  "summary": "Elegance Bratton's film \"By Any Means\" is set in 1966 Mississippi and follows a Black FBI agent, Special Agent Wayne Strider, played by Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, who teams up with an Italian-American mafia hitman, Gregory Scarpa, played by Mark Wahlberg. The unlikely duo investigates the murder of civil rights leader Vernon Dahmer, who was killed by the Ku Klux Klan.\n\nAccording to Variety, the film's premise bears some resemblance to other works, but its execution is notably different. TheWrap reports that the story takes place against a backdrop of widespread racism, with many witnesses too scared or bigoted to testify against the Klan. The film is inspired by true events, as per The Hollywood Reporter.\n\nThe FBI, under pressure from J. Edgar Hoover and Lyndon B. Johnson, brings in the hitman as an informant to help solve the case. The film stars Giancarlo Esposito as Vernon Dahmer, the murdered civil rights leader.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 3,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "The Hollywood Reporter",
        "title": "‘By Any Means’ Review: Yahya Abdul-Mateen II and Mark Wahlberg in a Shallow, if Occasionally Gripping, Historical Crime Thriller",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/03/by-any-means-review-yahya-abdul-mateen-ii-and-mark-wahlberg-in-a",
        "published": "2026-09-03T16:00:00.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "TheWrap",
        "title": "‘By Any Means’ Review: Yahya Abdul-Mateen II and Mark Wahlberg Fight the Klan in Uneven but Effective Crime Drama",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/03/by-any-means-review-yahya-abdul-mateen-ii-and-mark-wahlberg-fight-the",
        "published": "2026-09-03T16:00:00.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}