Tommy Shelby’s legacy will never die, and neither will fans’ love for Peaky Blinders.
Steven Knight’s beloved series about the 20th-century Birmingham gangster (played by Cillian Murphy) came to an end in 2022 after six seasons of intricate schemes, cold-blooded murder, and outsmarting enemies. However, Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man brings the series to an even more satisfying end, honouring its iconic characters with one last round bathed in the sounds of Fontaines D.C., mclusky, and of course, Nick Cave.
Watching Murphy ride through town on a black horse one last time, just as he did in the first ever episode of Peaky Blinders, the film draws the series to a close in an explosive, moving, and reverent manner befitting one of the most dastardly criminal minds on television.
What is Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man about?
Cillian Murphy as Tommy Shelby, one last time.
Credit: Robert Viglasky / Netflix
The final episode of Peaky Blinders takes place in 1934, and The Immortal Man jumps forward a few years into World War II, drawing us in with the Luftwaffe’s shocking real-life bombing of the Birmingham Small Arms factory in 1940. (Knight told Mashable’s Mark Stetson he “always wanted to finish this part of the Peaky story with a film in the Second World War.”) Knight and director Tom Harper pour every last element of their production team’s skills into this explosive opening sequence, with stunning tracking shots, blaring rock music, and touching moments of human connection before everything’s reduced to rubble — and it really sets the high-stakes tone for this finale.
The Nazis, assisted by British ally John Beckett (a chillingly gallant Tim Roth), have plans to win the war by flooding the British economy with counterfeit currency, with the offer of war profiteering on the table for, say, local Birmingham gang leaders. Who would take up such a poisoned chalice? Only the son of the legendary Tommy Shelby, Erasmus “Duke” Shelby (a perfectly cast Barry Keoghan), whose chip on his shoulder runs deep.
Far from the front lines, Tommy now lives in solitude, haunted by grief, shame, and the memory of his lost loved ones. His quiet, domestic life runs in contrast to the underworld shenanigans he once ran, though Harper makes sure to include shots of dead birds and bloody dripping to keep Tommy’s violent past close at hand. “Some king I was,” he laments in self-exile. Withdrawn from society, Tommy wanders his land and visits overgrown graves, speaking of cowardice and regret. How long can he remain a recluse, especially as his son’s actions move toward a darker place than he ever ventured?
Mashable Top Stories
Cillian Murphy and Barry Keoghan make for a perfectly tense father/son duo
*extreme Vin Diesel voice* family
Credit: Robert Viglasky / Netflix
Watching Murphy revisit his iconic role is an absolute treat, as Tommy wrestles with taking up his legendary mantle once more. While Tommy’s moments of classic Peaky Blinders jaw-dropping diabolical chaos are limited in the film, the scenes we do get are momentous — watching a young idiot disrespect Tommy in his own Garrison pub without knowing who the hell he’s talking to does not go well. The Immortal Man really gives Murphy his “cool guys don’t look at explosions” last hurrah as Tommy, with an hour and a half of the actor looking extremely impressive walking through Birmingham and the Midlands to various needle drops.
Of course, Tommy is writing his memoirs — and notably at every possible moment, including on a boat en route to a mission, which cracked me up — and Murphy seems to farewell his own character with his performance, one of mourning, reflection, and reluctant pride. Cinematographers George Steel and Ben Wilson frame the series’ hero in all his chiaroscuro glory, with Murphy evoking pure torment through his stoic protagonist.
Props to the casting team for Keoghan’s run as Duke, with the Saltburn actor mirroring Murphy’s cold unpredictability (and flat cap) as his son. Attempting to surpass his father’s legacy, Duke turns to extreme measures, evil plans, and brutality, despite the disappointment of his aunt, Ada Thorne (an excellent return from Sophie Rundle). Watching Murphy and Keoghan as father and son at loggerheads with each other, even brawling in mud surrounded by pigs, feels as raw, brutal, and steeped in family as Peaky Blinders has ever been.
Can I watch The Immortal Son if I don’t watch Peaky Blinders?
It’s Stagg (Stephen Graham)!
Credit: Robert Viglasky / Netflix
If you don’t watch Peaky Blinders, I must warn you that the film comes with some major spoilers as to what happens to several main characters, so if you’re planning to start the series, don’t start here.
However, if you’re not intending to watch Peaky Blinders in its entirety, there’s enough context provided in the film’s dialogue to avoid any necessary quickfire recaps. The film also makes several reveals of beloved characters like Hayden Stagg (Stephen Graham) extremely obvious in their importance, so you’ll keep up on old friends, lovers, and the like — even if one of them (Rebecca Ferguson) plays the surprise twin sister card to bring back a character.
Whether you’re a longtime fan or not, the legacy of Tommy Shelby and Peaky Blinders seems to transcend the episodes themselves, with The Immortal Man a worthy ending. As Shelby himself said, “I will remember everything and forget nothing.”
Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man is streaming on Netflix March 20.
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