In 1940, Nazi agent Beckett (Tim Roth) enlists new Peaky Blinders chief Duke Shelby (Barry Keoghan) to help flood the UK economy with fake bank notes. Cue Duke’s reclusive father Tommy (Cillian Murphy) reluctantly returning to Birmingham to “save” his errant son.
In the 13 years since it first slo-mo strutted onto our TV screens, Peaky Blinders has become a cultural phenomenon. The guest stars got bigger, while sales of flat caps skyrocketed. So it’s hardly surprising that creator Steven Knight has crowned six seasons of inter-war Brummie crime shenanigans with a movie that draws us back to the blood-flecked court of Cillian Murphy’s gangster “King of the Gypsies”, Tommy Shelby. And even less surprising to find that, despite its upgrade to the big screen — and a six-year leap forward, into the thick of World War II — this is very much Peaky Blinders business as usual. Which, depending on the viewer, will come as either a relief or a disappointment.
The Immortal Man, then, feels less like a cinematic expansion than a new one-episode season. Despite its Nazi-plot premise and war-torn backdrop, there is no widening of scope, no great shift of perspective or aesthetic. We do meet a new generation of Peakies, fronted by Barry Keoghan as Tommy’s illegitimate eldest, Duke, and we’re revisiting Birmingham amid the budget-ramping fire and rubble of the Blitz. But most of the action takes place in the usual spots: the Garrison pub, the canal docks, the warehouses, the alleys, the smoky backrooms. And Tommy Shelby is still very much the alpha protagonist.
It’s good to see Tommy stylishly stalking the streets, laying down the law.
Though it does take him a while to get going. For almost half the film, Tommy mooches around his decaying manor house, wearing cardies, writing his memoir, smoking opium and seeing ghosts (these last two activities may be related). He’s haunted by the family he lost, and still hasn’t got over the nightmare of the First World War. So, when Tommy is finally convinced to return to Birmingham by the twin sister of Duke’s deceased mother (played with customary witchiness by Rebecca Ferguson), Knight and director Tom Harper’s indulgence in fan service feels very welcome. Once he’s back in his newsboy cap and three-piece suit, it’s good to see Tommy stylishly stalking the streets, needle-dropping Nick Cave, laying down the law — or rather its opposite — with a hand-grenade, and trading bullets with Tim Roth’s broadly drawn cockney Nazi (“Heil fuckin’ Hitler”) as he does his bit, albeit amorally, for the war effort.
Of course, family is Tommy’s primary concern, and Keoghan does a good job of matching Murphy’s reptilian poise in the troublesome offspring role. But the two actors never really strike sparks in the way you’d hope, and though the narrative delivers some seismic, spoiler-prone plot events, it doesn’t fully deliver on the promise of its generational clash. Like Murphy himself in his Shelby clobber, it all feels a little bit too neatly wrapped up.
With its edgy style intact, The Immortal Man never takes its eye off the Peaky faithful. But keeping the fans happy is a double-edged sword, as it can’t help but just feel like an extra-long episode rather than a standalone cinematic experience.