Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man is a fun, violent series from Netflix

Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man, new NetflixNow in US and UK theaters, the BBC co-production is a big-screen outing for Cillian Murphy’s hero, Tommy Shelby, a traumatized First World War veteran and brutal gangster. Over the course of six blood-soaked seasons, Murphy wrote the legend of Tommy in the long and proud tradition of British gangster stories. As a long-time fan of the show, I was eager to see how it would fare in cinema.

You don’t need to watch any of the series, which is a bit like The Sopranos period with its distinctive Midlands accents and modern rock music. Soundtrack. With minimal exposition, the film quickly fills you with 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 series also need not worry, as the film is written and directed by series creator Steven Knight Tom HarperWho directed some of the first series. Stylistically, it’s a big part of the show. The gory violence in dark bars is contrasted with Tommy’s visions of opium and PTSD, ghostly images of the dead and supernatural gypsy magic. It’s a complete atmosphere.

Grey-haired, bespectacled and haunted by his dead family, Tommy hides out in his empty country house after… Events of the sixth season. He is literally writing his legend, trying to put his life story down on paper in an attempt to exorcise his many demons. His estranged son, Duke (Barry Keoghan), takes command of the Peaky Blinders and makes a name for himself as a violent war profiteer when bombs bomb the industrial city of Birmingham, England, in the early years of World War II.

I don’t think it’s a spoiler for me to tell you that very soon, Tommy puts on his reading glasses, dons his trademark three-piece suit and flat cap, and drives his gorgeous Rolls Royce to Birmingham to confront his wayward son. Murphy is as formidable and elegant as ever in this role.

The series has always been woven with real-life characters and I expected Tommy to reconsider his long relationship with Winston Churchill and perhaps end up working for British Intelligence. It’s not exactly that high concept. A traitor named John Beckett (Tim Roth) plans to distribute a large amount of counterfeit Nazi money through gangs such as the Peaky Blinders and collapse the British economy. Will he convince Duke to betray his country?

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Roth is comically obnoxious in the role, a true scenery-chewing villain. The film begins with millions of counterfeit £5 notes being loaded onto a train in a concentration camp. He turns to the camera and quips, “Heil faffin’ Hitler,” and that’s all you need to know about him.

Having Barry Keoghan as Cillian Murphy’s son is some genius casting. I absolutely love Keoghan in everything he’s into, and as Duke, he delivers a sarcastic disdain, a cold-eyed brutality, and, when pushed, a sweaty panic that rings true.

It’s a fairly big-budget production, with some impressive fireballs and firefights, but it’s not what gamers call AAA – solid AA. One scene in particular caught my attention: when Duke stalks his prey through the streets of the bombed-out city, the scene is repeated over and over again. A more ambitious film could have done it in one take. However, its beautiful vintage costumes, eerie blurry channels, and cast full of recognizable faces give it a distinct visual identity.

Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man will be released on Netflix on March 20. If you’re not familiar with the series, I’d say it’s worth a month’s subscription – pour yourself a glass of bootleg whiskey and enjoy the exciting, fast-moving crime drama in a dazzling style all its own. Knight says It’s a “stepping stone” for more seasons of the show, so there’s a lot where this came from.

Fans – go see it in the cinema. By order of the Peaky Blinders.