THE STORY – During World War II, Tommy Shelby returns to a bombed Birmingham and becomes involved in secret wartime missions based on true events, facing new threats as he reckons with his past and rising national stakes.
THE CAST – Cillian Murphy, Barry Keoghan, Rebecca Ferguson, Tim Roth, Packy Lee, Sophie Rundle, Jay Lycurgo & Stephen Graham
THE TEAM – Tom Harper (Director) & Steven Knight (Writer)
THE RUNNING TIME – 112 Minutes
When we last saw the infamous Thomas Shelby in the sixth and final season of Steven Knight’s “Peaky Blinders,“ he rode off into the horizon as the carriage containing his previous life burned brightly in the background. Thomas, a man whose demons have endlessly plagued his life, is all but riding on an angelic white horse towards a future unknown to us. It would’ve been a sufficient ending point for longtime viewers. Still, it’s more than apparent that series creator Knight and company were all but itching for a proper bookend to what is one of television’s most beloved modern series. “Peaky Blinders“ has all but grown in popularity since the original series ended, and series lead Cillian Murphy has catapulted his career in the industry from being one of the most dependable working actors to an Academy Award-winning leading man for his work on “Oppenheimer.“ With his selection of far more introspective works, such as “Small Things Like These“and “Steve,” it’s a bit surprising he’d want to step back into the shoes of Tommy anytime soon. Luckily, his return to Birmingham was not for nothing, as “Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man“ is a more than fitting coda that will leave longtime fans satisfied.
Knight, who created the series, writes the screenplay for “The Immortal Man,“ which shifts gears, making audiences bide their time for what they came for in exchange for a far more meditative examination of the life Tommy now leads. As England braces for the full force of the Third Reich during WWII, Tommy ultimately decays in a world shaped by consequences and self-isolation. Although he sees apparitions of her, Ruby, his daughter, is dead. Polly is gone, he doesn’t talk to his son Charles, and his brother is waiting on the other side of the trenches for him when his time comes. Hell, the rise of the Nazi party and the fascist stronghold it has on the world is all because of Thomas’s meddling in those political powers in a desperate attempt to have it all. In 1940, Thomas Shelby is all but a memory in Birmingham as his eldest son, the half-gypsy Duke, played by Barry Keoghan, is gaining traction in his attempt to make a name for himself and to solidify a new era of the Peaky Blinders. His bid for power leads him down a dark and brutal path, aligning his interests alongside Tim Roth’s posh Nazi agent Beckett, who has an elaborate plan to cripple England’s economy through the ruse of millions of counterfeit quids. Despite Tommy’s refusal to engage with the real world, it all but drags him back to his hometown to set things right once and for all.
“The Immortal Man,“ a film in the same vein as Vince Gilligan’s “El Camino,“ is essentially an extended television episode, serving as an epilogue for the series, and is all but optional for those not inclined to tune in. It is, however, far more demanding for those watching who have not experienced the television series, as Knight intended it purely as a reward for those who have committed years of their lives to this story. Tom Harper, who directed a few episodes in the first season, returns to helm the film but is more of a steady hand for Knight’s vision, which has always been the heartbeat of the series. There is a bit of the film where it’s stretching its limits as it struggles to set the backdrop for the conflicts Thomas will face amid a war-torn England, while also maintaining its status as an intimate drama of a man struggling to overcome the pain that has yet to escape him. The pacing picks up, bringing the film more in line with fan expectations and tapping into the energy that made people love it in the first place once Tommy arrives back home.
Murphy, on the other hand, hasn’t lost a step, still finding new ways to depict the turmoil transpiring in Tommy’s soul. He’s older, battered, and certainly more estranged this time around, leading Murphy to avoid delving into some of Tommy’s louder sensibilities, which constitute some of the series’s more iconic moments. Yet there’s something that Murphy possesses as he suits up, puts on his flat cap, and walks with that commanding presence that makes Thomas Shelby the entity many people hold him up to be. Keoghan, who steps into the role previously played by Conrad Khan in the series, also finds himself operating on a far more restrained register. The far-out-there, freakish personalities his characters usually have are swapped for a child in a man’s body who so eagerly seeks approval from someone to solidify his place in the world. “The Immortal Man“ is as much a film about Thomas coming to grips with the man he is as it is Duke realizing what needs to be done to become the man he’s eager to become. Their chemistry works, making audiences wish more of the film was spent navigating the pair’s thorny relationship. Rebecca Ferguson is an interesting addition to the fold, playing Kaulo, the sister of Duke’s mother, with whom Thomas had a brief relationship. The inclusion of Kaulo is the most TV-movie aspect of “The Immortal Man,“ shoehorning in lore in the briefest of introductions to her character that feel half-baked, as much as her motivations. Thankfully, Ferguson makes the most of it, along with Roth’s antagonist, who is a bare-bones adversary to square off against the Shelby family.
Some will surely feel a certain way about the removal of a certain character, one of whom plays a powerful role in Thomas’s decision to exile himself. If anything, it plays into the more straight-to-video aspects of “The Immortal Man“that make sense for this production, even if it may not be a deserving conclusion. It is the little things in “The Immortal Man“ that make someone like me, familiar with the series, crack a grin throughout, mainly the inclusion of familiar faces such as Packy Lee’s loyal Johnny Dogs or Stephan Graham’s Hayden Stagg, causing havoc in Liverpool. What’s not to adore seeing Thomas suiting up once again to walk in slowmotion set to Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds’ “Red Right Hand“playing in the background? Whether Knight decides to do more “Peaky Blinders“ is irrelevant, as it doesn’t detract from his ability to craft yet another reliable landing of the plane for Tommy Shelby. Frankly, “The Immortal Man“ is a far better film sequel to six seasons of television than it should’ve been.
