Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man ending explained – does Tommy Shelby die?

(**WARNING: Contains spoilers for Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man**)

Two weeks after it was released in select UK cinemas for a brief theatrical window, Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man has just arrived on Netflix – meaning you can now catch up on the latest instalment of the Birmingham gangster saga without leaving your house.

The film – which has received mainly positive reviews – picks up the story of Tommy Shelby (Cillian Murphy) seven years after we left him riding away on a white horse at the end of the TV series, with the action unfolding in 1940 right at the height of the Second World War.

At the start of the movie, Tommy is living in self-imposed exile, writing his memoirs while painfully recollecting all the loved ones he has lost over the years, including his daughter Ruby who tragically passed away in the series.

At the same time, we are reintroduced to his illegitimate son Duke – now played by Barry Keoghan – who has been running the Peaky Blinders in his absence, overseeing a brutal new regime that has seen the outfit return to their cruel ways from years before.

And then there's Beckett, a new character played by Tim Roth. A Nazi sympathiser who is helping the Germans in a scheme to flood the UK with counterfeit currency and destabilise the wartime economy – a real life scheme known as Operation Bernhard – it is Beckett who sets the plot in motion by attempting to recruit Duke into his scheme.

Eventually, thanks in part to some input from Rebecca Ferguson's enigmatic character Kaulo, this forces Tommy to return from his exile for the most important intervention of his life.

But how does it all end up? Read on for everything you need to know about Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man, with the warning that there are obviously major spoilers from this point onwards.

Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man ending explained – what happens with the counterfeit money?

The act that really sets the plot in motion is when Beckett asks Duke to prove his commitment to the cause by assassinating Ada Shelby, who has taken over Tommy's seat as an MP and had – from Beckett's perspective – posed a threat to his plan.

Although Duke wavers in going through with the killing, it is too late to save Ada as Beckett shoots her at point blank range, killing her instantly.

Shortly after her death, Tommy sees a ghostly vision of his sister appear to him on the road, and it is at this point that he ends his exile and returns to Birmingham, riding back into the city on a horse while the audience hears a new version of the show's iconic theme song (Nick Cave's Red Right Hand) playing.

One of Tommy's first ports of call is to visit his son and give him a talking to, with their exchange turning into – literally – a brawl in a pig sty. After later also facing down Beckett, Tommy comes up with a plan to foil the scheme, relying on Duke and a bunch of old allies including Stephen Graham's Hayden Stagg.

Hayden informs Tommy of the whereabouts of Beckett's headquarters in a warehouse, which he then infiltrates by climbing a tunnel – which gives him flashbacks to his time in the trenches during the First World War – while his allies blow up a load of Beckett's men on canal boats (after a double bluff from Duke).

When Tommy arrives at the warehouse, a shootout ensues, during which most of Beckett's remaining men are killed. Meanwhile, Tommy also successfully blows up the containers where the counterfeit money is stored – meaning the mission is complete.

Does Tommy Shelby die in Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man?

Of course, the film doesn't end there. Beckett – still alive – attempts to get revenge on Tommy, getting into a car and driving it at him. Tommy stands in its way and shoots Beckett in the head, killing him but not before taking two shots to his stomach himself.

At this point, he calls on Duke to fatally shoot him and finish the job – telling his son that he is ready to die and that he wants him to take his place at the head of the Peaky Blinders. Duke follows through with his demand, shooting his father as they embrace – and fulfilling a plan that had earlier been laid out by Kaulo, his aunt.

There's no ambiguity here: Tommy is quite definitively dead. The film ends with a traditional Romany funeral service that sees his body set on fire surrounded by pictures of his family – with his surviving friends and loved ones paying their respects,

Who dies in Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man?

There are quite a few major deaths in the film, starting with the murder of Ada, who is assassinated by Beckett – an act which serves as an inciting incident in the film.

Beckett himself – and most of his unnamed men – are also killed in the climactic set piece, before Tommy's aforementioned death in the closing moments.

Meanwhile, we also learn that Arthur Shelby – Tommy's volatile older brother who played a major role in the events of the series – died in the time between the end of the show and the beginning of the movie.

How does Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man set up the sequel TV series?

Of course, despite the fact that Tommy Shelby is now dead, we know that Peaky Blinders will be continuing with two new seasons set in 1963, focusing on the "new generation of Shelbys."

The brief synopsis for the sequel series reads: "Britain, 1953. After being heavily bombed in WWII, Birmingham is building a better future out of concrete and steel.

"In a new era of Steven Knight’s Peaky Blinders, the race to own Birmingham’s massive reconstruction project becomes a brutal contest of mythical dimensions. This is a city of unprecedented opportunity and danger: with the Shelby family right at its blood-soaked heart."

Quite how the events of the film will tie into the show remains to be seen, but it seems likely that we will see what impact Duke's leadership has had on the Peaky's in the intervening 13 years – presumably he will change course from the leadership style we see at the beginning of the film

Meanwhile, there are plenty of other surviving Shelby family members who could feature, including Tommy's younger brother Finn and his other son Charlie – who we learn was serving in the army during the events of the film and can be spotted in uniform at Tommy's funeral.

When we hear more details of what we can expect from the series, we'll keep you updated!

Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man is in select UK cinemas now and will be available to stream on Netflix from Friday 20 March 2026 – sign up from £5.99 a month. Netflix is also available on Sky Glass and Virgin Media.

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