The Cillian Murphy Netflix Crime Series That Fans Need To Watch
Many people are getting properly introduced to Cillian Murphy when they see him lead his first Christopher Nolan film with Oppenheimer. While Murphy has had fairly meaty roles in Nolan’s Batman trilogy as Scarecrow and Fischer in Inception, Oppenheimer was his first chance to lead such a massive blockbuster, and it’s safe to say he nailed it. However, fans of the British series Peaky Blinders have known for years that Murphy is more than capable of leading a dynamite cast, and the series is available to watch on Netflix right now if you haven’t checked it out yet.
Oppenheimer star Cillian Murphy leads the acclaimed crime drama Peaky Blinders on Netflix.
Cillian Murphy leads the series as the crime boss, Tommy Shelby, the leader of the titular Peaky Blinders street gang in Birmingham, which is based on a real-life urban youth gang that was active from the 1880s to the 1910s. The series takes place in the aftermath of World War 1 and follows the gang’s attempts to expand their criminal organization. Steven Knight wrote and directed the series.
Peaky Blinders has a massive cast that, along with Cillian Murphy, includes Helen McCrory, Paul Anderson, Joe Cole, Sam Neill, Annabell Wallis, Iddo Goldberg, Tom Hardy, Charlotte Riley, Finn Cole, Natasha O’Keeffe, Paddy Considine, Adrien Brody, Aidan Gillen, Anya Taylor-Joy, Sam Claflin, Amber Anderson, James Frecheville, and Stephen Graham.
Like Boardwalk Empire, Peaky Blinders is also loosely based on real historical events and has appearances from numerous real characters from history, such as Winston Churchill and Sir Oswald Mosley.
The show has six seasons, or series as they’re called in the UK, that aired on BBC Two and BBC One throughout the show’s run. The show ended in 2022, so it really hasn’t been over for that long.
If you’re a fan of crime dramas, prestige TV, period pieces, or just Cillian Murphy in general, then you owe it to yourself to check out Peaky Blinders. The show has received consistently great reviews since it began and has often been favorably compared to the HBO series Boardwalk Empire, albeit in the UK rather than in the United States. The show maintained that level of quality throughout, with the sixth and final series receiving near-universal acclaim.
Like Boardwalk Empire, Peaky Blinders is also loosely based on real historical events and has appearances from numerous real characters from history, such as Winston Churchill and Sir Oswald Mosley.
Of course, that doesn’t mean the depictions of these real-life people are always entirely accurate, as some people took specific umbrage with the show’s depiction of real-life British communist and trade union leader Jessie Eden. Some people who personally knew Jessie Eden were even offended by her portrayal in the show.
Despite some potential historical inaccuracies and some stretches of the truth, Peaky Blinders still takes place in a real, tumultuous time period in UK history. The story alone is enough to keep you engaged throughout all six seasons, but the historical backdrop certainly adds to the intrigue of the show. The high production values really bring this time period to life, too.
Netflix would eventually acquire the exclusive US distribution rights for Peaky Blinders in 2014, with the downside that most of the original soundtrack for the series wasn’t available on the Netflix version due to licensing restrictions. While that’s certainly disappointing for those who check out the show on Netflix, the soundtrack is far from the only good thing about the show, so it’s still worth checking out wherever you can find it. For most people, the Netflix version is undoubtedly the most convenient way to watch.
All of the performances in Peaky Blinders are top-notch, but Cillian Murphy especially impresses in the lead role, anchoring the show all the way from the beginning to the end.
Cillian Murphy In Oppenheimer
It’s no surprise that Murphy was able to take his magnetic presence to the big screen and keep people engaged during a three-hour movie that was mostly people talking in different rooms. Oppenheimer is a very different role for Murphy than Tommy Shelby, but it just goes to show how versatile Murphy can be as an actor.
Oppenheimer has made over $900 million since it hit theaters in July, outperforming initial expectations and easily becoming Cillian Murphy’s most successful project to date. You can still check out Oppenheimer in theaters if you haven’t done so already. Otherwise, make sure to check out Murphy’s equally fantastic performance as Tommy Shelby in Peaky Blinders on Netflix.
