Netflix releases dozens of original movies every year, but only a few have the budget and distribution that could claim the title of “blockbuster” if they were produced by one of Hollywood's traditional studios for theatrical release. This year Netflix's breakout film appears to be “Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man,” which just hit the platform on Friday.
At the beginning of each year, Netflix publishes an exhaustive list of the films, series and other types of productions that they are going to release during the next 12 months. Sometimes the streaming platform comes with surprise revelations, announcing that it will release by the end of the year productions that were known to have been filmed and entered the post-production phase, but were not included in the list from the beginning of January.
But at the moment at least, it's hard to find a feature film that can rival the gangster film “Peaky Blinders: Immortal Man” for the title of Netflix's most anticipated movie of 2026, given the huge popularity of the series that follows and the names involved.
Netflix announced in June 2024 that it had teamed up with the BBC to produce a film to continue the story of the popular series and that acclaimed Irish actor Cillian Murphy would return in the iconic role of Tom Shelby.
The American streaming company also revealed then that the script of the film will be written by the British filmmaker Steven Knight, the creator of the series “Peaky Blinders”, and that the director's chair will be occupied by Tom Harper, who directed the first season of the series and also has in his portfolio titles such as “The Aeronauts”, “Heart of Stone”, “Philip K. Dick's Electric Dreams” or the miniseries “War and Peace” launched by the BBC in 2016.
“Looks like Tommy Shelby still has work for me. It will be very satisfying to work with Steven Knight and Tom Harper again on the film version of 'Peaky Blinders.' This is one for the fans,” Cillian Murphy stated at the time.
The announcement came just months after he won the Oscar, Golden Globe and BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role for his performance in Oppenheimer, about the 'father' of the atomic bomb.
Where the story of “Peaky Blinders” begins
“It's going to be an explosive chapter in the 'Peaky Blinders' story. No gloves. 'Peaky Blinders' all-out war,” Knight also promised in comments made to Tudum, Netflix's news site.
The film picks up in 1940, during World War II, when Tommy Shelby is forced to confront his past again.
“When you meet him at the start of the Second World War, he has withdrawn from society,” Murphy explained in an interview with the BBC earlier this month. “He's alone, wandering around his big house, haunted by all these demons and ghosts, and the consequences of his actions are coming back to haunt him,” added the 49-year-old actor.
In one sequence, Shelby is seen writing a book as a form of therapy, before the gangster world of Peaky Blinders “pulls him back again, and eventually his son brings him back into this world,” Cillian Murphy also revealed.
Old and new faces in 'Peaky Blinders'
In addition, several actors from the original series returned for the new film: Stephen Graham as union leader Hayden Stagg, Sophie Rundle as Ada Shelby (Tommy's sister), Ned Dennehy as Charlie Strong, Ian Peck as Charlie's assistant (Curly) and Packy Lee to once again play Johnny Dogs (Tommy's cousin, friend and employee).
Filme also comes with new names such as Oscar-nominated actor Barry Keoghan (Duke, Shelby's son), Rebecca Ferguson and Tim Roth.
Steven Knight stated that the cast “couldn't be better”.
“I think we have the cream of the crop,” he told the BBC, recounting that “when we approached almost anyone, they said yes.” “That goes for the actors, the music, everything, because 'Peaky' has a certain impact,” he added.
How good is the new Netflix movie?
According to the BBC, “Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man” received generally favorable reviews, with The Guardian giving it three out of five stars for a “highly self-assured drama” and Empire giving the same rating, but saying the film “doesn't quite live up to its promise of a generational clash”.
The Times gave it four stars out of five, calling the film “unsubtle but entertaining”, while The Independent's three-star review praised Murphy as “hugely talented” and noted Keoghan as “a natural choice for 'Peaky Blinders'”.
The Daily Telegraph gave it just two stars, stating that the feature film “aspires for moments of greatness and once or twice actually gets there”, but “those peaks just aren't as sharp as they used to be”.
At least some of the fans seem to agree, although they are not as critical. As with its other big-budget films, Netflix released “Immortal Man” in a select number of theaters ahead of its streaming release, meaning we can get a sense of what ordinary viewers are thinking, not just film critics.
Overall, “Peaky Blinders” has a 92% approval rating from film critics on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, and an average rating of 7.7/10 on IMDb, but the number of ratings is still low at less than 3,000 as of this writing. For comparison, the original series aired between 2013 and 2022 has a rating of 8.7 / 10 out of more than 750,000 ratings published on IMDb.
What is certain is that “The Immortal Man” does not mark the end of the legendary gang from Birmingham. After the movie, “Peaky Blinders” will return with a new series to follow the adventures of the new generation of the Shelby family after World War II.
“There's a lot more to say in this universe, but this is the final chapter of this part of the story,” said Steven Knight. Neither Netflix nor the BBC have yet announced when they plan to release the new Peaky Blinders series.
