Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man

As bombs fall and fascists rise in Britain, it is left to an over-the-hill thug to save his country from Nazi-engineered ruin. The thin plot is not what holds the film together, it is the characters who make up the emotional spine of the story.

'Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man' manages to wrap things up neatly, even if it is not a perfect film.

The Immortal Man 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. With its edgy style intact, the film 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.

Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man reframes war through a deeply personal lens, following Tommy Shelby as he grapples with power, legacy, and inner conflict in a world shaped by ongoing violence.

Nevertheless, it is a resoundingly confident drama. The war and the Nazis are a big theme for a big-screen treatment and screenwriter Knight and director Tom Harper put it across with some gusto as a kind of homefront war film, helped by their effortlessly watchable lead.

For all its flaws, it lingers. Like the echo of boots on wet cobblestone. Like a cigarette burning a little longer than it should. Like Tommy Shelby himself, impossible to ignore, even when he's standing very still.