Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man Review -Does Tommy Shelby Get the Ending He Deserves?
- Je-Ree
- 9 hours ago
- 2 min read
After years of squinting through cigarette smoke and dodging razor-filled flat caps, the moment has finally arrived. Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man has officially dropped on Netflix, trading the rain-slicked cobblestones of Small Heath for the high-stakes shadows of World War II. But after a decade of watching Tommy Shelby cheat death more times than a cat with a death wish, does this cinematic finale deliver a knockout blow, or is it just swinging at ghosts?
The Return of the King (of Birmingham)
Cillian Murphy returns as Thomas Shelby, and let’s be honest, the man could stare at a brick wall for two hours and we’d call it prestige television. In The Immortal Man, Tommy is pulled out of his self-imposed rural exile because apparently, retirement for a Shelby involves more brooding than actual gardening.
The plot kicks off in the 1940s, with the world at war and the Shelbys finding a way to profit from the chaos while technically being the "good guys." Steven Knight’s script pits Tommy against a Nazi counterfeit scheme that threatens the British economy. It’s a bit "James Bond with a Brummie accent," but it works because the stakes feel appropriately massive for a series finale.
A Family Affair: Duke vs. The World
The real meat of this Peaky Blinders movie review lies in the generational friction. Barry Keoghan, playing Tommy’s illegitimate son Duke, is essentially a human live wire. While Tommy has become a weary statesman of crime, Duke is running the family business with the kind of unhinged brutality that reminds us why we fell in love with the first season.
The chemistry between Murphy and Keoghan is electric, providing the emotional spine the film desperately needs amidst all the explosions and political maneuvering. Rebecca Ferguson and Tim Roth join the fray as well, with Roth delivering a villainous turn so oily you’ll want to wash your hands after watching him.
Cinematic Style Over Subtlety?
Director Tom Harper doesn't hold back on the visuals. The film is gorgeous—every frame looks like a Renaissance painting if the Renaissance had been sponsored by a whiskey distillery. The "Immortal Man" title refers to Tommy’s legendary status, and the film leans hard into the myth-making.
However, the pacing is where things get a little shaky. Trying to cram six episodes' worth of character arcs into a sub-two-hour runtime means some fan favorites are relegated to glorified cameos. If you were hoping for a deep dive into the inner life of Arthur Shelby this time around, you might be left wanting more.
The Verdict
Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man is a stylish, violent, and deeply sentimental farewell to one of TV’s most iconic anti-heroes. It’s not perfect, it’s rushed in places and occasionally trips over its own epic scale but as a final chapter, it hits the notes that matter. Tommy Shelby finally faces a reckoning he can’t outsmart, and the ending is bound to keep Reddit servers humming for weeks.
It’s gritty, it’s loud, and it’s quintessentially Peaky. Whether you’re here for the history or just the haircuts, this is the closure the Shelby family deserved.
What did you think of the finale? Did Tommy’s fate satisfy your inner Shelby, or are you already demanding a spin-off? Let us know in the comments below!
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