Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man, the new Netflix-BBC production in US and UK theaters now, is the big screen adaptation of Cillian Murphy’s anti-hero Tommy Shelby, a traumatized WWI veteran and ruthless gangster. Over the course of six bloody seasons, Murphy has written Tommy’s tale into a long, proud tradition of British gangster stories. As a longtime fan of the show, I was eager to see how it would fare in the cinema.
You don’t have to see any series, like the Sopranos era with distinctive Midlands vocals and modern rock music on the soundtrack. With little explanation, the movie quickly fills you in on everything you need to know about Tommy and the Peaky Blinders gang — so named because they keep razor blades in their flat caps and do unspeakable things with them.
Fans of the show shouldn’t worry, either — the movie is written by series creator Steven Knight and directed by Tom Harper, who directed the other original series. Stylistically, it’s a big part of the show. Bloody violence in dark slums is no match for Tommy’s opium- and PTSD-ridden visions, ghostly images of the dead and supernatural gypsy witchcraft. The whole vibe.
Gray-haired, watched and tormented by his dead family, Tommy hides in his empty house after the events of season 6. Literally writing his legend, he tries to write his life story on paper in an attempt to exorcise his many demons. His estranged son, Duke (Barry Keoghan), has taken over leadership of the Peaky Blinders and is making a name for himself as a violent war profiteer as bombs hit the industrial city of Birmingham, England, in the early years of WWII.
Barry Keoghan is the new king of Birmingham’s underworld.
I don’t think it’s a viewer to tell you that, soon enough, Tommy puts on his reading glasses, puts on his three-piece suit and flat cap, and drives his flashy Rolls-Royce to Birmingham to deal with his wayward son. Murphy is as terrifying and beautiful as ever in the role.
The game has been involving real figures and I was expecting Tommy to revisit his long relationship with Winston Churchill and maybe end up working for British intelligence. It’s not such a lofty idea. A traitor named John Beckett (Tim Roth) plans to distribute large amounts of counterfeit Nazi currency through groups like the Peaky Blinders and destroy the British economy. Will he persuade the Duke to sell his country?
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Roth is hilariously annoying in the role, a real villain who chews up the scenery. The film opens with him loading millions of fake £5 notes onto a concentration camp train. He turns to the camera and sneers, “Heil fackin’ Hitler,” and that’s all you need to know about him.
Playing Barry Keoghan Cillian Murphy’s son is an acting genius. I love Keoghan for everything he is, and as Duke, he gives a scornful contempt, a cold-eyed brutality and, when pushed, a sweaty panic that feels genuine.
The amazing Stephen Graham returns as Liverpudlian gangster Stagg, Tommy Shelby’s main partner.
It’s a really big budget product, with impressive fireballs and fire extinguishers, but it’s not what gamers would call AAA — solid AA. One scene particularly impressed me: When Duke stalks his prey through the bombed-out streets of the city, he cuts through it repeatedly. The most ambitious movie is likely to do it at once. However, its beautiful period costumes, eerie foggy trenches and a circle full of bullet faces give it a distinctive visual appearance.
Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man hits Netflix on March 20. If you’re not familiar with the show, I’d say it’s worth a month’s subscription — pour yourself a glass of bootleg whiskey and enjoy a fun, fast-paced crime drama with its own quirky style. Knight says it’s a “stepping stone” to advance the seasons of the show, so there’s a lot of where this comes from.
Fans — go see it at the cinema. At the behest of Peaky Blinders.
