Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man review — new Netflix movie manages to destroy the best British TV show of the 2010s in less than two hours | Tech Radar

Overview

Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man review — new Netflix movie manages to destroy the best British TV show of the 2010s in less than two hours

By order of the Peaky Blinders, I'm disappointed

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Cillian Murphy as Tommy Shelby. (Image credit: © Netflix)

I feel dreadful that Cillian Murphy had to return to this slog after his 2024 Oscar win for Oppenheimer. Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man is clearly an obligation ending, but it gets almost everything wrong.

-Tommy Shelby's story detracts from the original series

Tommy Shelby's story detracts from the original series

-Too many new characters we don't care about and an incredibly poor conclusion

Too many new characters we don't care about and an incredibly poor conclusion

-Possibly the most miserable film I've ever seen in my life

Possibly the most miserable film I've ever seen in my life

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Cast your mind back to 2022, when BBC smash hit period drama Peaky Blinders was wrapping up its sixth and final season. Loveable local gangster Tommy Shelby (Cillian Murphy) was tricked into believing that he was about to die from syphilis, making himself a recluse in the process.

However, this was all a lie, with Tommy tracking down the doctor responsible but failing to kill him. In this moment, Tommy learned the ultimate lesson of grace, and his legacy was forever changed (and more importantly, left on a high).

At least, this was the case until new Netflix movie Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man. We've picked up with who's left of the gang in 1940, with Tommy's now grown-up eldest son Duke (Barry Keoghan) involved in a plot to foil the Second World War. In short, he's helping the Nazis distribute counterfeit money across the country, making him rich to the tune of £70 million in the process.

But never fear! It's Tommy to the rescue... well, at least after he's done dithering over whether it's the right thing to do. Duke's aunt Kaulo (Rebecca Ferguson) and Tommy's sister Ada (Sophie Rundle) are on hand to try and coax him back to Birmingham, and I bet they wish they hadn't bothered.

The biggest problem with The Immortal Man is how overwhelmingly depressing it is. The first half struggles to get itself going, with the second half abruptly ending in unnecessary tragedy.

If you're looking for jaunty fights, slick laughs and Tommy back on fighting form, you've come to the wrong place. Netflix has instead penned a funeral to the show we once loved, and simultaneously paved the way for an incredibly uninspiring sequel series.

I'm not joking when I say that I never want to watch Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man again

It breaks my heart to be the bearer of such bad news after an agonizing four-year wait, but let's dig deeper into what's gone so wrong. More than anything else, it's the actual storyline that The Immortal Man has chosen to flesh out.

Fans have been waiting a long time for a spectacular Tommy Shelby comeback, wanting more of the same explosive energy that we got during the original series run. Instead, Tommy has become a man who is incredibly unsure of himself.

He's got good reason to be, as fans will find out in the first 20 minutes. But sadly, this all makes for incredibly drab viewing. It's easy to sum the entire movie up as this:

The first 45 minutes is Shelby continuous saying "No, I can't possibly go back to Birmingham" to the few people on hand to listen. The middle 25 minutes is Tommy at his best, punching and shooting layabouts who don't respect their elders. For the final 40-odd minutes, we're back to misery, as Tommy has all but given up the ghost.

Our original crew has practically dissipated before our eyes, too. By the time The Immortal Man closes out, we're largely left with new or B-plot characters, none of whom we actually give a damn about. That's not amazing news if the BBC does intend to develop a sequel series in the future…

In essence, it's out-and-out dread, which isn't exactly what you want to sit down and stream after a long week. Tommy's ending in season 6 was much more fitting too, and I really wish it remained his final hurrah. The Immortal Man ends suddenly, sadly, and with little resolution for the characters we dedicated almost a decade to.

Stephen Graham is onscreen for all of 5 minutes. (Image credit: Netflix)

When we talk about period dramas, the term 'i Phone face' is sometimes bandied about. This describes someone who looks so modern that you just know they've seen an i Phone, therefore is not a successful fit for a story set in the past. Barry Keoghan suffers from something I'm going to term 'i Phone haircut'.

Sporting an on-trend fade and more sticker-style tattoos than I could count, Keoghan's styling completely takes us out of the 1940s moment. Thanks to Saltburn, Eternals, Master of the Air, The Banshees of Inisherin, Crime 101 and the upcoming four Beatles movies, the man is absolutely everywhere, so perhaps it was already going to be difficult to buy him as anyone other than a modern actor.

Even so, it speaks to the disjointed feeling that The Immortal Man hosts, a patchwork of old and new that sits in a no-man's land in between. There's light to be found in the dark, including multiple touching tributes to Helen Mc Crory's character Polly Gray and, ironically for something so bleak, the best lighting in a Netflix movie I've possibly ever seen.

On the whole though, these minor wins don't make up for the dull and depressing bigger picture. My advice? Watch The Immortal Man's trailer before binging Peaky Blinders season 1-6 all over again. Trust me, it's a much better use of your time.

➡️ Read our full guide to the best TVs

1. Best overall: LG C5
2. Best under 1000: US: Hisense U8QG UK: TCL C7K
3. Best under 500: US: Roku Plus Series UK: TCL C6K

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Jasmine is a Streaming Staff Writer for Tech Radar, previously writing for outlets including Radio Times, Yahoo! and Stylist. She specialises in comfort TV shows and movies, ranging from Hallmark's latest tearjerker to Netflix's Virgin River. She's also the person who wrote an obituary for George Cooper Sr. during Young Sheldon Season 7 and still can't watch the funeral episode.

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Key Takeaways

• Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man review — new Netflix movie manages to destroy the best British TV show of the 2010s in less than two hours

• By order of the Peaky Blinders, I'm disappointed

• When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission

• Cillian Murphy as Tommy Shelby

• I feel dreadful that Cillian Murphy had to return to this slog after his 2024 Oscar win for Oppenheimer