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We’ve been looking forward to the beginning of a new chapter of everyone’s favourite crime drama Peaky Blinders for quite a while, but the first of series creator Steven Knight’s new stories in the Blinderverse finally hit Netflix earlier this month. The Immortal Man, a 112-minute film that sees Cillian Murphy return to the role of Thomas Shelby, is set during World War II and sees Shelby attempting to reclaim control of his former gang: only to find it under the stewardship of his own estranged son Duke, played by Saltburn‘s Barry Keoghan.
It’s an interesting concept – a legendary gangster returns to the world that exiled him, and needs to regain control from a brash new guard – but unfortunately the film doesn’t quite stick the landing. While there’s quite a bit to enjoy here, especially if you’re a big fan of Blinders already, but there are enough missed opportunities to see critics and audiences alike find sore spots in what should have been a loving farewell to a memorable TV character.
While it’s certainly not a bad film, it never quite reaches the heights of the series that predated it – a tall order, for sure, but one that Knight and co. should certainly be aiming for if they intend to resurrect and continue the Peaky Blinders universe into new and interesting places (as they are).
With that said, let’s take a look through what critics, and audiences, think of The Immortal Man now that they’ve had some time to chew on it.
What did Critics Like about ‘The Immortal Man’?
One of the first things many critics noted when reviewing The Immortal Man, and which should be clear by simply watching the trailer, is how faithful it is to the overall tone, atmosphere, and vibe the original series was famous for. Peaky Blinders was often funny, sometimes cruel, and always beautiful to look at, and The Immortal Man keeps those aspects of the original production intact.
“Director of photography George Steel showcases masterful use of composition and contrast,” wrote The Hollywood Reporter. “His team captures the Northern English mist, ancient city stones and crepuscular light in a such a sensuous way that it’s impossible not to feel the dewy chill of the geography.”
If that’s not enough, The Immortal Man takes its job of acting as a coda to a premier character-driven series seriously – bringing just about any notable (surviving) face from the original six-season run back to help bring Shelby’s emotional arc full circle. You’ll see returns from series staples, with a few years more experience under their belt, in a way that mostly feels congruent with what needs to happen for the plot – it’s fan service, for sure, but we’ve definitely seen worse.
All of that, though, is in service of completing the story of one man: Thomas Shelby. The gangster’s gangster is back on the streets of Birmingham (after too many scenes stuck in an old manor at the beginning of the film), and means business: and when Shelby means business, you know it’s going to get good.
For many critics, Cillian Murphy’s final(?) performance as Thomas Shelby is the absolute bright point of the film – Murphy brings a world-weary gravitas to a suited-up hoodlum, keeping one eye on the mistakes of the past, while the other looks forward to a brighter day. The amazing thing is that despite it all, Murphy’s performance doesn’t waver.
“(Murphy) dons the role of Tommy like it’s a suit that never goes out of style, not once struggling to capture Tommy’s inner turmoil or intense ruthlessness,” said Consequence.
What Didn’t Critics Like?
Not everything can be so positive, though, and one aspect that reviewers were near-universal in their criticism was the film’s pacing. For one, at 112 minutes, the movie feels short – especially when the series’ episodes tended to last around 60. For many, The Immortal Man felt like a longer, more expensive episode of the TV show, rather than a feature film.
Part of that is due to the film’s somewhat uneven pacing. The movie takes almost an hour to get going – with the first half setting up important context, for sure, but also diving deep into Shelby’s post-time-gap state of mind: something that probably could have been handled with a bit more subtlety.
That early focus on over-explaining the stakes, the remaining characters, where they’re at, and why they’re doing what they’re doing makes the film feel a bit rushed, said The Hollywood Reporter: “In this case, the overly simplistic and expository dialogue seems to suffer from a serious case of second screen-itis.”
Cillian Murphy is a fantastic actor, as this film shows, and could have easily shouldered the weight of that kind of character-driven storytelling had the script been a bit tighter, or if the film had had a bit more time. In other words, by the time the film gets into full Peaky Blinders mode, it’s almost over.
“TV-to-movie spin offs tend to get caught between upscaling and losing what made them great and laying out more like a feature-length episode,” writes TimeOut.
“The Immortal Man is more of the latter than the former, despite a big third-act sequence that swaps the moody introspection for gun battles. It’s often enthralling – especially with Murphy at its heart – though rarely explosive.”
The other issue identified across a number of reviews is the fact that while this film very much does what it sets out to do – finish of Thomas Shelby’s story – it doesn’t even attempt to make the series’ long mythology digestible to a new audience. The Immortal Man is well and truly aimed at series veterans and not new audiences.
This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, provided the audiences like what they see. Speaking of which…
What do the Fans Think of Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man?
Take one second to browse the Peaky Blinders subreddit, and you’ll see that The Immortal Man has received a pretty lukewarm reception. Also, if you do decide to check out that subreddit, beware of spoilers!
On the whole, long-time fans’ responses are fairly in step with what critics pointed out – they love seeing the series and Shelby back in action, but bemoan the length, pacing, and script issues. However, for a series built on strong characters, many fans’ core complaints are tied to some inconsistencies between the characters the series sets up, and the way they’re shown off in the film.
“(The) whole movie was such a disappointing, hollow departure from the detailed storylines of s1-6,” said one fan. “Really rubbed true fans the wrong way.”
“Tbh I felt like the movie barely had a plot. Nothing of substance really happened (and) there was no complexity to the story,” wrote another, while another called it a ‘terrible cash grab’.
While the majority of the reviews on Reddit in recent days have been negative, it wasn’t all bad: “I don’t know why ya’ll are complaining about this movie. It was brilliant, a tremendous conclusion.”
“I loved the story, but it was too rushed (and) should have been three one-hour episodes or something,” another said.
It’s worth noting that audience scores across review aggregate sites such as Metacritic and Rotten Tomatoes paint a brighter picture for fan reception. While Metacritic sees the film sitting at a 5.8 user score, Rotten Tomatoes’ score sits at 91% – though audience scores tend to fall somewhere between 2 and 4 stars.
Still, if you’ve already spent six seasons getting to know Thomas Shelby and the Peaky Blinders, it’s probably going to be worth sitting through another two hours or so to find out how it all ends. If nothing else, it might be worth it since The Immortal Man‘s ending sets the stage for the upcoming sequel series, which is already in production, with two seasons coming.
Where Can I Watch Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man?
If you want to check out Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man for yourself, it’s available to stream exclusively on Netflix. The film launched on 21 March, 2026, and all six-seasons of the series are available to stream.
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