'Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man' Review: A Fitting, but Familiar Televisual Send-off For Thomas Shelby
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By Dan Bremner - March 11, 2026
Four years after Peaky Blinders rode off into the smoky Birmingham sunset, the flat-capped gangsters return for a belated cinematic epilogue. Like El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie, Luther’s film continuation, and The Last Kingdom’s movie follow-up, this one arrives courtesy of Netflix, which immediately sets expectations somewhere between “fan service epilogue” and “slightly over-budget TV special.” At this point I can only ask that Netflix make my dreams come true and give me my belated sequel film to the Ross Kemp SAS action-drama Ultimate Force, a show in dire need of a glossy revival (make it so).
Given how messy and unfocused the sixth season of the show became, the idea of a proper final chapter for Tommy Shelby peaked my interest. In that sense, The Immortal Man does the job. It’s undeniably a tidier, more conclusive send-off than the show managed, wrapping up Tommy’s arc in a way that at least feels final, even if the franchise itself clearly isn’t done (with a 1950s-set continuation already filming). But while it works as a closing chapter, it rarely feels like a true film. More often it plays like an extended episode, a longer, slightly shinier piece of television rather than something with genuine cinematic ambition.
The thing with these Peaky Blinders fellows is that while they’re presented as deadly serious, violent, brooding figures, I’ve always found them a little bit camp and unintentionally silly. The slow-motion walking in matching outfits to modern music, the ultra-stylised machismo, the constant brooding, it’s always had a faint whiff of cosplay about it (not helped by a dreadful fan base). Even when I enjoyed the earlier seasons, I could never quite take them seriously. For a gang that’ll slit your throat without blinking, I take them about as seriously as The Village People. Compared with the general mediocrity of a lot of BBC drama, the production values still stand out, but it often plays like a dumber “benefits” version of Boardwalk Empire.
This film does absolutely nothing to calm those accusations of silliness. The stakes this time around are completely ridiculous. Tommy Shelby isn’t just returning from exile to sort out some family business, he’s apparently here to stop Germany winning World War II. Yes, the man from Small Heath is now personally squaring off against Nazis to save England. Within a series that already featured appearances from Winston Churchill and leaned heavily on historical events, this still feels like it’s taking the piss a bit.
Cillian Murphy remains the show’s ace card, delivering another quietly intense performance as Tommy Shelby (even threatening the cinema audience not to spoil it before its Netflix release in a pre-recorded message). Following his Oscar-winning turn in Oppenheimer, he brings a little extra gravitas to the role that's soulful, haunted, and still capable of sudden extreme violence. The supporting line-up is strong too, with Barry Keoghan making a volatile impression as the more chaotic young Shelby and solid turns from Rebecca Ferguson, Stephen Graham, and a sadly underused Tim Roth hamming things up as a British Nazi.
There are bursts of entertaining pulp energy, some decent action, wartime intrigue, and the kind of grim charisma the series built its reputation on. But structurally it’s uneven. The first half drifts around with Tommy brooding in isolation, haunted by ghosts and opium, before the plot eventually kicks into gear. Even then, the story often feels like a highlight reel of familiar Peaky Blinders beats rather than something new. Tommy has to face a new threat, learns about family and battles his past regrets. It really does very little to justify being much more than an extended TV special than a feature film.
The film also doubles down on the show’s famously stylised aesthetic, for better and worse. Director Tom Harper (helmer of several of the episodes) continues the series’ love affair with slow-motion mincing, smoke-filled streets and needle-drop soundtracks that clash deliberately with the period setting. The problem is that what once felt distinctive on television now borders on self-parody when stretched to feature length. The Blinders still stride dramatically through Birmingham to brooding rock tracks, caps tilted just so, but after six seasons the trick has lost some of its impact. Instead of feeling mythic, it occasionally comes across like the show doing an impression of itself. It's really hard not to laugh when Tommy puts his outfit on for the first time after several years and a slow sentimental version of the theme song plays.
Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man is a stylish, silly and camp send-off for Thomas Shelby that still has Murphy putting in great work with a fun supporting cast. But while it's a conclusive ending, it rarely feels more than an extended episode of the show than it does a real film. A better ending than Season 6 provided us, but far from anything special.
'Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man' is out now in select cinemas. Streaming on Netflix March 20.
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