By Any Means (2017)
★★★ — By Any Means (2017)
Bermuda is not a country that appears often in film production credits. A British Overseas Territory sitting in the North Atlantic, it tends to feature more as a postcard backdrop than as a genuine base for original filmmaking, which makes By Any Means (2017) a mildly curious entry in the decade's output. The film was produced under the Triventure Films banner and directed by Leighton Spence, running to a trim 84 minutes. The premise is the kind that feels well-worn on paper: a minor celebrity is kidnapped following a nightclub appearance, and when the police begin asking questions, the line between victim and opportunist starts to blur. It sits comfortably within the crime thriller and mystery tradition, and for anyone who enjoys a story that keeps its cards close to its chest, that set-up has genuine promise. If you want a point of comparison from the same era, it is worth glancing at what other 2010s productions were doing with modest resources, from the raw drama of Lost Boy in Juba to something as polished and widely praised as Call Me by Your Name. The range of that decade really was something.
The cast is a mix of performers from different corners of the entertainment world. Tom Gipson and Brooke Burfitt lead the dramatic side of things, while Michelle Money and Jonathan Cheban bring a certain reality television familiarity to the production. Larese King rounds out the principal five. It is an ensemble that sits at the crossroads of genuine acting work and celebrity casting, which is, perhaps, quietly appropriate for a story about fame, credibility, and who gets believed. Spence, working with relatively limited resources and a location that is visually distinctive if not exactly a well-established film industry hub, was putting together something that sits outside the mainstream. For another example of a mystery film operating in its own particular register, it is worth checking out what the site has said about Fire in the Sky, or for something more classical in its construction, the review of The 39 Steps. The mystery genre has always rewarded films that trust their story over their spectacle, and that tension is very much what By Any Means is trading on.
A-Z World Movie Tour Bermuda This was actually pretty good. My girlfriend and I agreed that the story was waaay better than the delivery. The acting isn't all that and it is a little drawn out. Could have easily been 70 minutes and you wouldn't lose anything. However the story itself and the slow build to the finale was actually really good. The story revolves around a low level celebrity who gets kidnapped but there is a HUGE twist in that story.
I think that tension between a good story and a so-so execution is exactly what makes a film like this sit awkwardly with you afterwards. You come away wishing someone had taken a sharper editorial hand to it, because the bones are genuinely there. The twist, when it lands, does the work it needs to do, and that counts for more than people give it credit for in a low-budget production where the temptation is often to play things safe. It is not a film I would press on everyone, but if you catch it in the right mood, on a quiet evening with your expectations sensibly adjusted, it rewards a bit of patience. Sometimes the films that surprise you are the ones nobody told you to watch.
Rating: ★★★ | Year: 2017 | Watched: 2025-05-29
Trailer
▶ Watch the official trailer for By Any Means (2017) on YouTube
Where to watch
Watch in the UK
Rent: Apple TV Store · Amazon Video · Google Play Movies · YouTube
Buy: Apple TV Store · Amazon Video · Google Play Movies · YouTube
Physical: Amazon UK · Zavvi
Watch in the US
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Buy: Amazon Video · Apple TV Store · Google Play Movies · YouTube
Physical: Amazon US
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Related on Movies With Macca
More from the 2010s: Wonder (2017) · Beautiful Boy (2018) · The Witch (2015) · What We Do in the Shadows (2014)
More mystery: Mononoke the Movie: The Phantom in the Rain (2024) · Mononoke the Movie: Chapter II - The Ashes of Rage (2025) · Carnival of Souls (1962) · One Way or Another (1975)
More drama: Viy (1967) · Wonder (2017) · A Better Tomorrow (1986) · Beautiful Boy (2018)
