If you want better originality
Choose Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma. It scores 4.9 vs 2.5 for originality, with a 4.4 overall score.
Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man Movie Review
Bottom Line
Choose it for Murphy’s commanding farewell, striking cinematography, and forceful music—especially if you know the series. Skip it if you want Season 6’s ending left intact, tighter pacing, or fuller treatment of the old ensemble.
Best for
Longtime Peaky Blinders fans who want one more Murphy-led farewell and value performance, visual style, music, and emotional closure more than tight feature-film pacing.
Not for
Viewers who prefer Season 6’s ending, want a brisk standalone crime film, or expect the old ensemble and its unresolved threads to receive full attention are the most likely to be disappointed.
Verdict
The Immortal Man works best as a lavish, performance-driven coda rather than a necessary new chapter. Cillian Murphy is the near-universal highlight, while Barry Keoghan and much of the supporting cast give the father-son conflict real bite. The cinematography, production design, and music preserve the show’s distinctive swagger and often make the film feel genuinely cinematic. The tradeoff is structure: reviewers repeatedly flag a slow first half, compressed character arcs, and a story that can feel like an extended episode or familiar one-last-job retread. Its final choices are the sharpest dividing line—some find them moving, fitting closure for Tommy, while others see them as an unnecessary reversal of Season 6’s stronger ending.
Feature Scorecards
Summary
47 reviewed features-
Very positive 4.5-5.08 (17%)
-
Positive 3.5-4.420 (43%)
-
Neutral 2.5-3.411 (23%)
-
Negative 1.5-2.46 (13%)
-
Very negative below 1.52 (4%)
Pros highlights
-
The ending is intensely divisive: many call it fitting, powerful, or even perfect closure for Tommy, while others believe it needlessly overturns the stronger symbolism of Season 6.
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The film restores the show’s swagger, music, visual language, and callbacks, satisfying many longtime fans. Others see missing characters and major legacy decisions as betrayals of the series’ established arcs.
-
The cast is one of the film’s safest bets: even many negative reviews praise the performances, with the central actors repeatedly credited for elevating uneven material.
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Cillian Murphy’s return as Tommy is overwhelmingly praised for its weary stillness, menace, grief, and emotional control; even harsh critics routinely identify him as a major strength.
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The supporting ensemble is generally considered strong, particularly Keoghan, Roth, Rundle, Graham, and Ferguson. The bigger complaint is often that the movie underuses them or gives their characters too little depth.
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The visual presentation is consistently celebrated: smoky interiors, chiaroscuro lighting, slow-motion swagger, period grime, and large-scale wartime imagery make the movie look distinctly cinematic.
Cons highlights
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The core legacy-and-war story is compelling and emotionally satisfying for many reviewers, but others call the movie unnecessary, thin, half-baked, or unable to justify rewriting the series’ prior ending.
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Pacing is the most consistent weakness: the first half is repeatedly described as slow or drawn out, while the later material can feel rushed as too much story is compressed into feature length.
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Tommy’s reckoning with grief and Duke’s struggle with his father’s legacy work for many reviewers, but the compressed format leaves several supporting characters—and, for some, Duke himself—feeling thin or underdeveloped.
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Reactions range from gripping, highly enjoyable fan service to dull, hollow, or unnecessary viewing. A common middle ground is that the movie becomes much more entertaining after its slow first half.
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The central comeback structure, Nazi scheme, and legacy conflict are often described as familiar or clichéd, with several critics saying the film rarely finds a genuinely new plot shape.
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The script earns credit for themes, twists, and some strong dialogue, but criticism is substantial: exposition, clichés, rushed character work, and compressed plotting repeatedly surface.
Cast & Creators
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ActorMurphy is the film’s most consistent acting triumph, with reviewers praising his quiet intensity, exhaustion, menace, grief, and ability to make Tommy compelling even when the script falters.
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CinematographerSteel’s cinematography receives exceptional praise for composition, contrast, light, texture, grime, and a big-screen sense of wartime Birmingham.
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ActorKeoghan is widely praised for giving Duke menace, insecurity, vulnerability, and volatility that can stand opposite Murphy. A minority finds the performance or accent uneven, but the overall response is strongly positive.
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DirectorHarper’s direction is frequently praised for stylish framing, suspense, action staging, and balancing Peaky Blinders swagger with larger cinematic scale, despite scattered complaints about tonal or structural choices.
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ActorRoth is usually praised for a chilling, diabolical, or entertaining villain performance, though some critics feel the film gives Beckett too little time or depth to become a great antagonist.
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WriterKnight’s writing draws a wide range of reactions: admirers praise the themes, plot momentum, and ending, while detractors attack the exposition, clichés, character choices, and sequel logic.
Compared With Category Average
Compared with other Movies, this product is above average in cultural representation, scares, cinematography, near average in action sequence quality, character development, below average in special effects quality, romance quality, CGI quality.
Comparison summary
47 compared features-
Above average 0.4+ pts higher16 (34%)
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Same as average within 0.3 pts17 (36%)
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Below average 0.4+ pts lower14 (30%)
Largest category differences
| Attribute | This product | Category average | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| special effects quality | 1.0 | 3.7 | -2.7 |
| romance quality | 1.5 | 3.3 | -1.8 |
| CGI quality | 1.0 | 2.8 | -1.8 |
| realism | 1.9 | 3.5 | -1.6 |
| cultural representation | 5.0 | 3.5 | +1.5 |
| rewatch value | 2.1 | 3.6 | -1.4 |
| scares | 5.0 | 3.7 | +1.3 |
| pacing | 2.2 | 2.9 | -0.7 |
Consider This Instead
If you want better world-building
Choose Project Hail Mary. It scores 5.0 vs 3.3 for world-building, with a 4.3 overall score.
If you want better CGI quality
Choose Crime 101. It scores 5.0 vs 1.0 for CGI quality, with a 4.0 overall score.
If you want better writing quality
Choose Exit 8. It scores 4.8 vs 2.8 for writing quality, with a 4.2 overall score.
Compared in Reviews
Products reviewers directly compared with this model, grouped into quick takeaways.
El Camino
- Similar: sequel-epilogue format The movie is compared to El Camino as an extended epilogue rather than a fully standalone experience.
Skyfall
- Similar: return-to-action montage Tommy's return-to-form montage is compared to 007 retrieving the Aston Martin in Skyfall.
Star Wars: The Last Jedi
- Similar: damage to rewatch value The reviewer compares its damage to prior-story rewatchability with Star Wars: The Last Jedi.
FAQ
Do I need to watch the Peaky Blinders series first?
The movie gives enough context for some newcomers to follow it, but many reviewers say the callbacks, character history, and emotional payoff work much better for longtime viewers.
How is Cillian Murphy as Tommy Shelby?
He is the strongest point of consensus. Reviews repeatedly praise his quiet intensity, grief, menace, and ability to carry weaker or slower stretches.
How does Barry Keoghan work as Duke?
Most reviews respond positively to his menace, insecurity, and vulnerability, especially opposite Murphy. A minority finds the characterization thin or the performance and accent uneven.
Is the movie action-packed?
The biggest action arrives after a deliberately brooding first half, with the pub confrontation, shootouts, explosions, and final set pieces drawing the strongest praise.
How are the cinematography and music?
Both are major strengths. The film’s lighting, grime, wartime imagery, score, and modern-rock needle drops are praised repeatedly, though a few critics dislike the soundtrack choices or aggressive mix.
Is the ending satisfying?
It is the most divisive part of the film. Some call it moving, fitting, or perfect closure for Tommy, while others feel it undermines the stronger ending already provided by Season 6.
Does it feel like a true movie or an extended episode?
Visually, many reviewers think it earns the big screen. Structurally, a recurring criticism is that it still plays like an extra-long episode or compressed season rather than a fully standalone feature.
Sample Expert Reviews We Analyzed
These are a few of the reviews included in our analysis.
Video Reviews
YouTube - CineRanter
- Review score
- 2.9
Article Reviews
writewatchwork.com
Cillian Murphy reprises his role as Tommy Shelby in Netflix's movie, Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man, a film following on from the...
- Review score
- 4.8
insessionfilm.com
PEAKY BLINDERS: THE IMMORTAL MAN is a satisfying close for the main character
- Review score
- 4.6
manofmany.com
Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man reviews are mixed. Our take on its pacing, cast, and if it truly delivers for Tommy Shelby fans.
- Review score
- 3.2
peakd.com
Being a fan of the series, from season 1 down to season 6, it was highly normal for us, the fans of the Peaky Blinders, to expect so much...
- Review score
- 4.9
brit.co
I have so many thoughts after finishing Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man, and I need to talk about them. You can see the movie (starring...
- Review score
- 4.3
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