Matthew 5:39 reads, “But I say to you, offer no resistance to one who is evil. When someone strikes you on [your] right cheek, turn the other one to him as well.” When we think about Christianity, we tend to focus on the latter half of that verse, though it says essentially the same thing as the first part, only with different words. Often, this bit of Scripture is cited when a Christian acts in the opposite fashion. If an avowed follower of Christ retaliates in any way, the response is typically, “Hey, what happened to turning the other cheek?” It is understandable when one is met with injustice to return unfairness (or worse) in kind, but faith in God calls for us to strive for something higher. Jesus did give the ultimate example when He went without resistance to Calvary. There is next to none of this kind of ideal behavior in By Any Means, and it is just as tragic that such measures are undertaken in order to combat evil.

There is certainly no turning of the other cheek when By Any Means takes us to Mississippi in 1964, where mobster Gregory Scarpa (Mark Wahlberg) is beating information out of a bloodied man concerning three missing civil rights workers. Gregory’s methods are about as far removed from conventional Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) procedure as one can imagine, but they work. His victim finally reveals where the bodies of James Chaney, Andrew Goodman, and Michael Schwerner (all archival footage) have been buried. Gregory reports the information, then makes it abundantly clear that cooperation has not earned the man much mercy. Two years later, the film shifts to Hattiesburg, Mississippi, where civil rights leader Vernon Dahmer (Giancarlo Esposito) is helping African American residents register to vote and offering to pay the poll taxes of those who cannot afford them. His work enrages the local Ku Klux Klan (KKK), whose members attack the Dahmer home with gunfire and firebombs. Vernon fights back long enough for his family to escape, but he is overcome by the fire and smoke and dies from his injuries. FBI Agent Wayne Strider (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II), a Mississippi native who has returned after working cases in Chicago, is frustrated by the racism within the Bureau and by superiors who have largely relegated him to desk work. He also knows the Dahmer family personally, making Vernon’s murder considerably more than another case file. The investigation quickly stalls because witnesses are frightened, local authorities cannot be trusted, and the Klan’s influence reaches deeply into the community. Wayne’s superiors therefore give him a decidedly unofficial assignment: meet Gregory, an FBI asset brought down from New York, serve as his handler, and keep their investigation secret. Agent Strider finds the gangster’s personality nearly as objectionable as his methods, and Gregory has little patience for Agent Strider’s insistence on rules and procedure. Their differences become immediately apparent when a sheriff’s deputy stops them on a dark road, refuses to believe that Agent Strider works for the FBI, and pulls a gun on him. Gregory shoots the deputy, leaving Agent Strider horrified at the killing and the realization that, as an African American in Mississippi traveling with the white stranger who just killed a lawman, he is in an extraordinarily precarious position. Nevertheless, the two continue hunting for the men responsible for Vernon’s murder. Gregory favors intimidation, beatings, and the occasional baseball bat, while Agent Strider tries to conduct an actual investigation. Their partnership becomes a running argument over whether justice can be achieved through a system corrupted by the people they are pursuing. The differences between them extend beyond investigative technique. Agent Strider identifies more with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s (not pictured) approach, while Gregory is far more comfortable with the idea of fighting violence with violence. When the subject turns to the racial hatred Agent Strider faces, Gregory bluntly says that, in his place, he would kill every one of his tormentors. Gregory has no moral qualms about hurting Klansmen to obtain information, while Agent Strider initially recoils from the idea that the government should secretly employ a criminal to do what its own agents cannot legally do. The strain eventually erupts into a fistfight between the two men, which only leads to Agent Strider’s suspension. The danger also follows Agent Strider home, threatening the life he shares with his wife, Allison Strider (Nicole Beharie), when Klansmen attack his house with Allison in it. Despite being forced to hand in his badge, Agent Strider himself begins moving away from the restrained, by-the-book law enforcement officer who first met Gregory. The trail ultimately leads the pair to Lawrence Byrd (Jody Thompson), a businessman with ties to the Klan who possesses the information they need. With conventional methods having repeatedly failed, Gregory resorts to the sort of interrogation that made him useful to the FBI in the first place, kidnapping Lawrence and brutally forcing him to talk. Agent Strider watches, recording the eventual confession, but killing one of the suspects in the process. The investigation obtains the names and information sought from Lawrence, but there is little sense of triumph in the result. The men responsible for racial terror may be exposed, yet the machinery that allowed the Klan to flourish remains largely intact, and the government’s own willingness to employ Gregory’s brutality leaves the line between justice and lawlessness badly blurred. Gregory eventually returns to the violent world from which he came, but Agent Strider has learned that a badge and the law are not always enough to protect the innocent or punish the guilty.

Those assessments at the end of my synopsis of By Any Means are not just flowery words, but a summary of the postscript that talks about the men responsible for Vernon’s death either serving shortened sentences or evading justice for over thirty years. It is the kind of development that makes a person want to achieve justice in the eponymous fashion. That eponymous fashion is how Gregory goes about his business, although he claims not to care at all for the plight of African Americans in Mississippi. It is interesting to see an avowed Catholic like Wahlberg fill such a role, and to do so as well as he does. If nothing else, they did a good job of making him look like the real-life Scarpa, down to the enlarged nose. I get that, as a working actor, Wahlberg has to take the parts that he is offered. At the same time, Hollywood luminaries who have made their Christian beliefs known often have trouble finding work. This has been somewhat the case for Wahlberg. A few years ago, he began promoting Hallow, a Catholic app that I use on a daily basis. In an unusual turn of events, I recall seeing him do commercials for the service in theaters before other movies. Since then, he has been in some films, but nothing like what we had seen him do earlier in his career. As such, I was happy to see him here and to be involved in something more serious than The Family Plan series. At the same time, those are probably more in line with Catholic values.

Still, there is little about By Any Means that aligns with Catholic values. Indeed, the only time you see an image of Jesus is on the wall inside a Klansman’s house. The one instance in which Christianity is discussed to any degree is when the KKK uses it to justify its racism. To this end, there is a speech by Sam Bowers (Ethan Embry), the one who orchestrated the attack on Vernon’s house that led to the civil rights leader’s death. In brief, he talks about how God had set aside the United States for white people. There are so many obvious fallacies with this statement, but arguably the worst part is that such sentiments are still held by some today. Recently, a person held up a cross with a sign using a racial slur against African Americans. There is another person connected to a senatorial candidate in Georgia claiming that the only people welcome in this country should be related to Pilgrim stock. We hear echoes of these barbaric sentiments in today’s film, specifically in Sam’s words. The notion that God favors white people is too absurd to be funny, being rather lamentable for its pure ignorance. If God claims a chosen group, they are not of European extraction. Scripture is pretty clear on this score. The New Testament also underscores that we are to make disciples of all nations and peoples, that they are to be brothers and sisters in Christ, i.e., fellow Christians. If that is not diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), then I do not know what is. The problem with the film, however, is that combating it as Gregory would have Agent Strider do also does not create disciples. It is difficult to be a follower of Christ when one is dead. It is arguably harder to let an injustice go for the sake of their soul, or perhaps more importantly, your own. I like to think that is what Agent Strider is contemplating at the end, wondering if he had gone too far. The answer is yes, but luckily there is always a way back to God.

I am also not sure how to answer the question of whether I would recommend By Any Means. I want to because seeing it reminds me of all the problems with which we are currently dealing as a society, and I think people should be angry about them, as is Agent Strider. At the same time, as a practicing Catholic, I cannot condone the actions Gregory undertakes. As such, I will leave this one to your own judgment.