Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man is now in select cinemas ahead of its Netflix premiere on March 20, and the film delivers on the considerable weight of expectation that came with bringing the beloved franchise to the big screen. Written by creator Steven Knight and directed by Tom Harper, the film is set in November 1940 as Nazi Germany’s aerial campaign leaves Birmingham in ruins. Cillian Murphy returns to Peaky Blinders as Tommy Shelby, and the story picks up with a man who has withdrawn entirely from the world he once commanded.
Tommy is a recluse living in isolation, unresponsive to the destruction around him and hollowed out by the accumulation of losses that defined the final stretch of the television series. His self-imposed exile is interrupted when a Romani woman with a connection to his past, played by Rebecca Ferguson, arrives with a warning that pulls him back toward Birmingham and toward a son he left behind.
Barry Keoghan carries the film as Duke Shelby
The film’s most significant new element is Barry Keoghan as Duke Shelby, Tommy’s son, who has taken control of the Peaky Blinders in his father’s absence. Without a guiding influence, Duke has drifted toward indiscriminate violence and an approach to power that bears little resemblance to the one Tommy built. When an English Nazi collaborator named Beckett, played by Tim Roth, approaches Duke with an offer involving millions of pounds in forged currency intended to collapse the British economy, Duke agrees, driven by a need for validation that his absent father never provided.
Keoghan is exceptional in the role for Peaky Blinders the movie. He brings a volatile unpredictability to Duke that makes him genuinely difficult to read, while also conveying the underlying wound of a son measuring himself against a father who looms larger in his imagination than in his life. When Tommy returns and the two are forced to reckon with each other, the scenes between Murphy and Keoghan carry real emotional weight. Murphy, still widely recognized for his Academy Award-winning work in Oppenheimer, matches Keoghan at every turn.
Roth’s Beckett is among the most effective villains the franchise has produced, a character whose cold manipulation and ideological conviction make him a genuinely unsettling presence in a film that already carries considerable darkness.
What the film means for the franchise going forward
The Immortal Man functions as a bridge between the television series and what comes next. Netflix has already commissioned two additional seasons, and the film does significant work clearing the path for a new generation of Shelbys to lead the story. Paul Anderson, who played Arthur Shelby throughout the series, does not appear in the film. His character’s fate is addressed in the narrative, and Anderson has spoken publicly about his absence, expressing admiration for the finished product while acknowledging that circumstances prevented his involvement.
Knight has hinted that the next chapter of the franchise could follow a younger generation operating in the same world, with Keoghan positioned as the new center of gravity. Whether Murphy returns in any capacity remains an open question.
What critics are saying
The film currently holds a 91% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 32 reviews, placing it among the better-received entries in the franchise. Critics have praised the cinematography by George Steele, the performances across the board and the film’s ability to serve both longtime fans and viewers with less familiarity with the television series. The production design, which captures a Birmingham devastated by wartime bombing, has also drawn particular attention.
Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man is in select cinemas now and arrives on Netflix on March 20.
