"Late on the night of November 19, 1940, we watch as a group of women pour into a munitions factory in Birmingham. Before the start of their evening shifts, the women sing happy birthday to one of their own, until a Looney Tunes-esque slide whistle signals that a bomb is falling and the whole factory goes up in flames. The jarring sequence intends to remind us of the literal stakes at play in World War II."
"The appeal of Peaky Blinders has always been somewhat two-fold: There's the rollicking, arch family crime drama where the Shelbys and their kin have to come together and defeat a slightly more famous big bad, like a rum mogul or the Sicilian mafia. And then there's the part of the show that seems designed for manosphere Instagram Reels, one that treats Murphy's crime boss turned politician Tommy Shelby like a Walter White-ian figure who is justified in all the violence he does."
Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man begins with a dramatized sequence of a 1940 munitions factory bombing in Birmingham, establishing WWII as a literal backdrop for the story. The film dedicates itself to those who died in the actual historical event. However, the film amplifies the show's problematic tendencies by balancing two conflicting appeals: a crime family drama where the Shelbys face antagonists, and a narrative that portrays protagonist Tommy Shelby as a Walter White-like figure whose violence is justified despite its personal toll. The absence of recurring characters from the television series in promotional materials signals potential concerns about the film's direction and tone.
Read at Vulture
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