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Craig began contributing to Screen Rant in 2016 and has been ranting ever since, mostly to himself in a darkened room. After previously writing for various outlets, Craig's focus turned to TV and film, where a steady upbringing of science fiction and comic books finally became useful. Craig has previously been published by sites such as Den of Geek.
Craig is an approved critic on Rotten Tomatoes.
Over the past 15 years or so, the production values gap between movies and TV shows has all but vanished. Helped by the rise of streaming (but actually starting a few years prior with shows like Game of Thrones), major TV shows now boast the same cinematic visuals, A-list actors, and sweeping scale as their big screen counterparts.
As a result, it's now much easier to compare movies and TV shows directly. That's a particularly big deal for the gangster genre, because truly great gangster movies have been few and far between in recent years, and the best entry within that arena has instead been a six-season TV series.
Peaky Blinders Is Better Than Any Gangster Movie From The Past 15 Years
The gangster genre isn't as prevalent as it used to be, and when considering the past 15 years of Hollywood releases, Martin Scorsese's The Irishman would likely be considered the strongest during that time. Nevertheless, a different criminal with Irish heritage does it better.
Debuting on the BBC in 2013, Peaky Blinders ran for six acclaimed seasons, and will continue with a debut feature-length movie, The Immortal Man, in March 2026. Following the template of many classic gangster movies, Peaky Blinders charts the rise of an ambitious visionary with a penchant for breaking the law. Tommy Shelby evolves from a local Birmingham racketeer to the heights of political power, constantly bouncing between certain ruin and unprecedented success.
Peaky Blinders' Shelby family is filled with colorful characters, damning secrets, and complex relationships that unfold beautifully across the show. Each season, meanwhile, brings increasingly impressive enemies (and a few allies) to give Tommy sleepless nights. Peaky Blinders' period setting becomes a huge part of its appeal, as Birmingham's imposing streets transform into a character all of their own, and the gloomy noir the Shelbys inhabit sets an appropriately unsettling mood.
Every Peaky Blinders season has an emotive power and narrative grip that overshadows all but the very greatest gangster movies, and as a story told across 13 years, the audience is invited to watch Tommy's career develop naturally, almost living alongside Cillian Murphy's character throughout the show's run. Free from the time constraints of a feature-length movie, Peaky Blinders offers the most complete depiction of a mob boss since Michael Corleone.
2026 Will Finally Cement Peaky Blinders Among The Gangster Genre's Elite
As a product of the small screen, Tommy Shelby's closest rival thus far has been Tony Soprano, who hails from a very different era of TV. But rarely is Peaky Blinders held against the likes of Goodfellas, The Godfather, and The Departed as an all-time great tale of gangs and criminal ambition. Given its quality, Peaky Blinders absolutely deserves to sit alongside those esteemed names.
While The Immortal Man represents only a single chapter in the Shelbys' story, its release will bring Peaky Blinders fully into the gangster movie conversation. Should it maintain the quality of the series it's based on, The Immortal Man will likely overtake The Irishman as the premiere modern gangster movie. From there, Peaky Blinders would have a free run at being compared to the genre's all-time greats, which is precisely where it deserved to be from the very start.
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