Director: Tom Harper
Writer: Steven Knight
Stars: Cillian Murphy, Barry Keoghan, Rebecca Ferguson
Synopsis: During World War II, Tommy Shelby returns to a bombed Birmingham and becomes involved in secret wartime missions facing new threats as he reckons with his past.
Once upon a time, Tommy Shelby nearly had everything. As the man leading the Peaky Blinders and running Birmingham for years, there was almost nothing standing in his way, and any threat that reared its head in his direction was dealt with. But nearly isn’t enough, and for all the victories and power plays he succeeded at, there were plenty of close personal losses and devastating blows to him that have made him a shadow of the man he used to be. A man who lives on as death envelops others, and is haunted by the ghosts of those he once held close.
The Immortal Man, the continuation—and conclusion—to Peaky Blinders thus far puts the spotlight on Tommy (Cillian Murphy), six years after the series finale where he seemingly found peace and left behind the life of a gangster. As World War II rampages the world and bombs fall on England, he lives in isolation, leaving behind the Tommy Shelby he once was and not fighting another war, but fate has other plans. Enter Duke Shelby (Barry Keoghan), Tommy’s now adult son and the new head of the Peaky Blinders, who is about to make a dangerous deal with the Nazis through a man named Beckett (Tim Roth) and sell out the country, and the world, in the process, allowing Germany to win the war. In order to prevent this, Tommy must return to Birmingham once again to put a stop to it.
In many ways, The Immortal Man plays like an extended coda to Peaky Blinders (so far, as a sequel series is on the way), often feeling like Part 2 of the finale. The aim of the movie, however, is less to end the entire story, but to give a definitive final note to Tommy’s journey thus far. From being a soldier in the first World War whose trauma from fighting in the tunnels scarred him and his brother Arthur to his life as a Peaky Blinder, writer and show creator Steven Knight aims to see Tommy’s story through to its end. The result is a mostly satisfying conclusion for him, despite a few bumps and polarizing decisions along the way.
From the start, the visual and musical musings of Peaky Blinders are once again on full display, with George Steel’s imagery capturing the grimy and muddy Birmingham and the warzone it is becoming, as the world around tries to move through the war. Juxtaposed with that are the isolated moments in the countryside where Tommy lives alone, with only Curly (Ian Peck) as company. When the action is going down, the use of slow motion and stylized visuals that made the show’s biggest moments so iconic are once again used rather effectively. On a musical level, the electric score and songs from Antony Genn and Martin Slattery with additional work from Grian Chatten add wonderfully to the ambience and tone of the story, filling it with a sense of dread and the hint of something that was once epic, but picking up more with the return of Tommy to Birmingham.
Cillian Murphy, to no one’s surprise, is once again incredible as Tommy, playing a mere shadow of the gangster he once was, and now just a man haunted by the ghosts of those who left before him, such as his daughter, Ruby, who keeps appearing in the compound around him, her scarf an eerie reminder of her passing. Murphy brings out the tragedy and humanity of Tommy brilliantly, as you see a man who just can’t seem to die as everything implodes around him, and despite not being a particularly good man, look back on his legacy and ponder on what it all meant. These more introspective moments with Tommy in that first half, then balanced out with a return to his Peaky Blinder self as he comes to Birmingham on a horse—echoing his very first scene in the series—and reminding everyone what he is capable of, make for a great extended run of the character from Murphy. Barry Keoghan as Duke matches him in excellent fashion, balancing the hardened nature of the character in violent situations with his vulnerability and even fear on display when something becomes too intense. Much like the show, the realities of life that are shown with the Peaky Blinders are what make them so endearing, and Keoghan’s performance reflects that well.
As the movie progresses, returning characters like Ada Shelby (Sophie Rundle) and Hayden Stagg (Stephen Graham) add some gravitas to the proceedings, delivering very fine work on their ends as well, and newer characters like Beckett and Kaulo Chiriklo (Rebecca Ferguson) also providing some solid performances and weight to the story. The direction from Tom Harper, who also directed the last three exceptional episodes of the first season, is also well done, with the shootout sequences and the final explosive act brought to life in vivid, grimy, and stylistically violent ways. It is also with the newer characters, however, that the movie runs into some road blocks, as beyond some of the solid work from Roth and Ferguson, their characters are not given as much depth as previous new entrants in the series. As Peaky Blinders has had a plethora of excellent villainous performances from Sam Neill to Adrien Brody and Sam Claflin, Roth’s Beckett doesn’t quite reach those heights, despite a menacing performance that elevates his scenes. Ferguson is great as per usual, but her role, and significance of her character, play like late-inning entries into the story, and feel even less developed in some ways.
Where The Immortal Man proves most potentially divisive, however, is with some of its story decisions. With a six-year gap between Season 6 and this movie, many events have taken place during that time which are only referenced in exposition, or shown in flashes. One of those significant events involving a supporting character, for example, is handled in a slightly lopsided manner, highlighting an aspect of the movie’s story and a character arc, but could have used a better build into that. While some other plotlines that were left dangling at the end of the show are still unresolved, The Immortal Man is more concerned with wrapping up Tommy’s story and providing a conclusion to his arc, as well as building a compelling dynamic between Tommy and Duke as the two work together to take down Beckett, and in those two departments, the movie is more than a success.
By the time the credits roll on Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man, the final movie is a very satisfying and emotionally powerful conclusion to Tommy Shelby and Cillian Murphy’s extraordinary run as the character that hits many of the beats it sets out to. While it doesn’t reach some of the heights of the series, such as its final few seasons and even the series finale, it still manages to be a rather solid watch and opens the possibilities to where the story of the Peaky Blinders will go next. In the bleak midwinter…
