Cillian Murphy’s return as Tommy Shelby on the big screen shattered expectations, with the Peaky Blinders film landing as Netflix’s most-streamed title upon its release.
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LOS ANGELES — Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man, the long-awaited feature film conclusion to the beloved BBC crime saga, has become the most-watched title on Netflix following its streaming premiere, surpassing even the loftiest of internal projections and delivering one of the platform’s strongest debut performances of the year.
The film, which was given a limited theatrical run in the United Kingdom, Ireland, and the United States in March before arriving on Netflix, stars Cillian Murphy in his defining role as Thomas Shelby — the Birmingham gangster-turned-politician whose rise and fall captivated television audiences across six acclaimed seasons. Murphy is joined by series stalwarts Stephen Graham, Sophie Rundle, Ned Dennehy, Packy Lee, and Ian Peck, while new cast members Rebecca Ferguson, Tim Roth, Jay Lycurgo, and Barry Keoghan inject fresh energy into the franchise’s cinematic finale.
Keoghan in particular has emerged as one of the most talked-about elements of the film, with critics singling out his scene-stealing performance as a compelling foil to Murphy’s complex and brooding antihero. The Irish actor, who has steadily built one of the most impressive résumés of his generation, brings an unpredictability to the film that sources close to the production say director Tom Harper deliberately cultivated.
Critical response has been overwhelmingly positive, with reviewers praising the film’s success in translating the intimate, atmospheric storytelling of the television series into a feature-length format without losing the texture that made the show so beloved. The film has been described as a fitting and emotionally satisfying conclusion to Tommy Shelby’s decade-long journey.
Set during World War II, the story finds Tommy returning to a bombed Birmingham and becoming entangled in secret wartime missions rooted in real historical events, as he simultaneously reckons with his past and the escalating national stakes of the conflict around him.
The film’s performance validates Netflix’s ongoing investment in prestige theatrical co-productions — a hybrid model that has faced scepticism in some quarters but appears increasingly capable of generating both cultural buzz and subscriber engagement at scale. Industry observers are already wondering whether the film’s success will prompt discussions about a sequel or spinoff.
