Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man (2026)

Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man is the anticipated sequel to the six series of Peaky Blinders which ran from 2013 to 2022. I watched the entire run in the build up to this film and I think if you haven’t seen the show or at least the final series then you might be at a slight disadvantage but not a huge one. The set up of the film is set in 1940 and sees Tommy (Cillian Murphy) who is writing his book and wants to live his life in peace but is brought back to Birmingham when his eldest son Duke is revealed to be working with Tim Roth’s Nazi supporting Beckett who is trying to flood the UK with fake notes in order to undermine the economy and win the war for Hitler. Which is something they actually did.

The film centres on Duke who is someone that was introduced quite late in the run and the daughter Ruby died but there was another child but no mention of him. The absence of Arthur from the film is a strange one. I have tried to find if there was an explanation as to why Paul Anderson is not in the film and there doesn't seem to be any particular reason. There was a criminal charge for drug possession in 2024 but that seems to be it. Choosing to kill off Arthur seems like an odd thing to do.

Overall the performances are quite good. Cillian Murphy has always been great as Tommy Shelby even when the weight of what has happened is clearly weighing down on the character and he doesn't have the swagger than he did in earlier seasons. His death at the end of the film felt like the right way to end things and it wasn't one in a way which undermined the character or robbed him of a chance to ride off into the sunset but was the right way and most satisfying. This was the second Barry Keoghan film of the year and whilst this was a better performance and a better written character it has to be said that his brummie accent was a bit odd at times. I like him as an actor but his accent was off putting at least at the beginning. Duke has split loyalties because on the one hand he wants to be a tough fguy leading the Peaky Blinders into the roaring 40’s but doesn't seem to have the guts to do what is needed when it's needed. You knew he would be the one to kill Tommy but the way that it was done meant that it felt like the right thing to do. Tim Roth is fine as the threat that connects Tommy and Duke in plot terms but it felt like he was holding back on being a horrible villain. I get that they don't have a lot of time but it did feel like they were holding back a bit. 

Some of the scenes in this film like the TV show were filmed at the Black Country Living Museum which is about 500 metres from where I was sitting watching this film. That’s the closest I will ever be to a location that was used in a film apart from the opening scene in Stan & Ollie when they arrive at the hotel in Newcastle which is in fact the pub at the same museum.

I really enjoyed this film to the point that it is my favourite film of the year. I thought that it did a great job of wrapping things up for the show and the fans should be happy with the way it ends. I think that the plot was relatively straightforward and it wasn't weighed down with unnecessary plot points. It looks amazing and manages to pull of the look of 1940’s war torn Birmingham really well. As the final part of the story it ends things on a great note which isnt something that all shows pull off and as a film in is own right it is really good and is not only my favourite film of the year but my favourite British film of the year. I do think when it ends up on Netflix in a couple of weeks it will lose something being on a smaller screen but at least like Frankenstein they are giving us the chance to enjoy their films on the biggest screen possible. Definelty worth seeing if you can.