The Peaky Blinders Movie Indulges the Show’s Worst Tendencies

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The new film, Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man, which continues the story from the popular Netflix series, opens with a devastating scene: a bomb attack on a Birmingham munitions factory on November 19, 1940. The film shows women arriving for their shift, singing a birthday song, before a bomb destroys the factory. This shocking moment emphasizes the real dangers of World War II, highlighting that the conflict directly impacted cities like Birmingham. This forces the Peaky Blinders, a notorious gang based on a true story, to choose a side in the war. The film reveals that the bombing was a real event and dedicates itself to the memory of those who died. So, even during intense scenes like the confrontation between Cillian Murphy and Barry Keoghan, remember it’s a tribute to the factory workers who lost their lives.

The movie The Immortal Man takes itself far too seriously, especially when it emphasizes the worst aspects of the Peaky Blinders TV show. Peaky Blinders has always worked because it offered two things: a thrilling, over-the-top family crime saga where the Shelbys overcome powerful enemies, and a tendency to portray Tommy Shelby as a morally ambiguous, almost heroic figure who’s excused for his violent actions. The trailer for The Immortal Man was worrying because it lacked most of the show’s familiar characters – where were the core Blinders? – but perhaps the director and writer hoped to create something new for audiences unfamiliar with the series.

If you’ve mainly seen Peaky Blinders through short clips and fight montages, The Immortal Man might be exactly what you’re looking for. The film keeps the backstory simple, showing Tommy Shelby as a retired gangster haunted by figures from his past. Beyond wandering around his house, he’s writing a book of the same name, which serves as the film’s main running gag. Trouble arrives when Tommy’s sister, Ada, contacts him because his illegitimate son, Duke, has taken over the Peaky Blinders and is running things in a dangerously far-right way. Duke is working with a Nazi sympathizer, Beckett, on a plan to destabilize England’s economy with fake money. The film doesn’t need new characters to fail; Peaky Blinders always featured strong guest stars like Hardy, O’Connor, and Taylor-Joy who added some brightness to the show’s dark tone. Here, though, everyone seems to be mirroring Cillian Murphy’s subdued performance, almost as if he’s sleepwalking through the role.

The plot of The Immortal Man feels stretched thin – it’s a complicated family drama about fathers and sons that doesn’t quite earn its length. The film focuses on who will be responsible for Duke – Tommy or Beckett – and who will influence his violent actions, a Nazi or a crime boss. These questions aren’t particularly compelling, and the movie drags them out long after the answers become clear. What’s more, the film portrays Tommy as unusually violent, typically reserved for the most intense moments of the show’s season finale. His moral code seems buried with the past, and the film doesn’t shy away from brutal acts against women and disturbing scenes of violence. The movie attempts to portray Tommy as politically aware while simultaneously showing him committing callous acts, creating a jarring and inconsistent tone. This disconnect between his beliefs and actions could have been intriguing, but ultimately makes the film feel confusing and unnecessarily cruel.

The film’s dedication to factory workers feels especially harsh considering how the women in the story are treated – largely as disposable characters or sex objects. Rebecca Ferguson’s character is literally used as a vessel for a deceased woman’s voice. While Peaky Blinders hasn’t always portrayed women well, the film’s constant reliance on dead women to drive the men’s violent actions becomes repetitive and frustrating. This is particularly disappointing for fans who remember strong, well-developed female characters from earlier seasons, like Aunt Polly and Lizzie. The film seems unconcerned with this issue, prioritizing explosions and heroic male imagery. Ultimately, the men face minimal consequences and maintain the status quo, while the women are simply written out of the story.

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2026-03-07 01:55