a biography hollywood movie of a magician

• Cast & crew
• User reviews

The Prestige

Rival 19th-century magicians engage in a bitter battle for trade secrets. Rival 19th-century magicians engage in a bitter battle for trade secrets. Rival 19th-century magicians engage in a bitter battle for trade secrets.

• Christopher Nolan
• Jonathan Nolan
• Christopher Priest
• Christian Bale
• Hugh Jackman
• Scarlett Johansson
• 1.8K User reviews
• 375 Critic reviews
• 66 Metascore
• 6 wins & 44 nominations total

Top cast 62

• Alfred Borden

• Robert Angier

• Olivia Wenscombe

• Julia McCullough

• Sullen Warder
• Stagecoach Driver

• Hotel Manager

• All cast & crew
• Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

More like this

Did you know

• Trivia Chung Ling Soo was a stage character created by William Ellsworth Robinson, a white man who disguised himself as a Chinese man to cash in on audiences' enthusiasm for the exotic. Robinson lived as Chung, never breaking character while in public. He died in March 1918, when a bullet-catch trick went wrong. There is doubt about his last words. They were either "My God, I've been shot" or "Oh my God. Something's happened. Lower the curtain." Either way they were both his last words and the first English he had spoken on stage in nineteen years.
• Goofs When Angier visits Tesla in February, it is obviously winter, with snow on the ground. Yet after a brief meeting they venture out to a balcony, where it is summer, with green foliage, and no breath visible.

Cutter : Every great magic trick consists of three parts or acts. The first part is called "The Pledge". The magician shows you something ordinary: a deck of cards, a bird or a man. He shows you this object. Perhaps he asks you to inspect it to see if it is indeed real, unaltered, normal. But of course... it probably isn't. The second act is called "The Turn". The magician takes the ordinary something and makes it do something extraordinary. Now you're looking for the secret... but you won't find it, because of course you're not really looking. You don't really want to know. You want to be fooled. But you wouldn't clap yet. Because making something disappear isn't enough; you have to bring it back. That's why every magic trick has a third act, the hardest part, the part we call "The Prestige"."

• Connections Featured in Siskel & Ebert: The Prestige/Flicka/Marie Antoinette/Flags of Our Fathers/A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints (2006)
• Soundtracks Drinkin' Down the Rose & Crown Composed by Keith Nichols Courtesy of APM

User reviews 1.8K

Outstanding acting performances worth price of admission.

• Oct 15, 2006
• What is 'The Prestige' about?
• Is "The Prestige" based on a book?
• Who or what is the "Prestige"?
• October 20, 2006 (United States)
• United Kingdom
• United States
• El gran truco
• Durango and Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad, Colorado, USA (train scenes)
• Touchstone Pictures
• Warner Bros.
• Newmarket Films
• See more company credits at IMDbPro
• $40,000,000 (estimated)
• $53,089,891
• $14,801,808
• Oct 22, 2006
• $109,676,311
• Runtime 2 hours 10 minutes
• Dolby Digital

Related news

Contribute to this page.

• IMDb Answers: Help fill gaps in our data
• Learn more about contributing

More to explore

Recently viewed.

• Action/Adventure
• Children's/Family
• Documentary/Reality
• Amazon Prime Video

More From Decider

What Time Does The Mike Tyson-Jake Paul Fight Start Tonight on Netflix?

New Shows & Movies To Watch This Weekend: 'The Day of the Jackal' on...

Billy Bob Thornton Shares Awkward Moment With Ana Navarro On 'The View'...

'The Golden Bachelorette's Joan Vassos Reveals Chock Chapple's Alias In...

Who Was Billy Klapper On 'Yellowstone'? Season 5 Episode 9's Cameo And...

Martha Stewart Pushes Drew Barrymore Away After She Starts Petting Her...

Jenna Bush Hager Scolds Nathan Lane For Suggesting Kamala Harris Replace...

Jon Stewart Says Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman Pulled Out Of His...

Share this:.

• Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
• Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
• Click to share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window)
• Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window)
• Click to copy URL

10 Great Movies About Magicians

Tonight the History Channel debuts its two-part miniseries Houdini , about — you guessed it — the masterful escape artist and illusionist. While the film stars Oscar winner Adrian Brody as Harry Houdini, cord-cutters who are interested in seeing the film are out of luck as it’s not available to stream online. But if you’re in the mood for some illusion and are jonesing for some magic tricks, here are ten films about magicians that you can stream online right now.

'Houdini' (1953)

Tony Curtis stars as the famed illusionist alongside his real-life wife Janet Leigh, who plays Houdini’s wife Bess. It’s a pretty cut-and-dry biopic, one that takes plenty of liberties with Houdini’s biography (including a very melodramatic Hollywood ending. [ GoWatchIt ]

'The Prestige' (2006)

In Christopher Nolan’s thriller, Hugh Jackman and Christian Bale star as enemy magicians whose intense rivalry results in murder. It’s a lush film that takes place in Victorian London and boasts a cast that includes Scarlett Johansson, Michael Caine, and David Bowie. [ GoWatchIt ]

'The Escape Artist' (1982)

Griffin O’Neal stars as Danny Masters, the son of a famed escape artist, who joins his uncle and aunt in their magic act. But Masters is himself an accomplished magician and escape artist, and his abilities put him face-to-face against a crooked mayor (played by Desi Arnez) and his vindictive son (played by Raúl Juliá). [ GoWatchIt ]

'Scoop' (2006)

Woody Allen’s stars as a bogus magician living in London who accidentally conjures the spirit of a recently deceased journalist (played by Ian McShane). He delivers his biggest scoop to the unsuspecting American journalism student, played by a geeky Scarlett Johansson: a handsome aristocrat (Hugh Jackman) is really a serial killer. Johansson’s novice reporter attempts to investigate — only to fall for the possible murderer. [ GoWatchIt ]

'Oz the Great and Powerful' (2013)

James Franco stars as a small-time magician living in Kansas who is, of course, delivered to the enchanted land of Oz by way of a tornado. Suddenly he’s the wizard we’ve all heard of — but he does get mixed up within a power struggle between three witches (played by Rachel Weisz, Mila Kunis, and Michelle Williams). [ GoWatchIt ]

'The Illusionist' (2010)

An out-of-work French magician finds himself unable to compete with a new brand of entertainment — rock ‘n’ roll. He moves to Scotland, where he meets a young girl in a small town who seems to be the last person to appreciate his talent. This bittersweet tale from French animator Sylvain Chomet earned an Oscar nomination for Best Animated Film. [ GoWatchIt ]

'Bedknobs and Broomsticks' (1971)

Three young children are sent to live with an apprentice witch (Angela Lansbury) during World War II. Together they go on plenty of adventures, and eventually they use some of her budding magical powers to contribute to the war effort. [ GoWatchIt ]

'Now You See Me' (2013)

Four young illusionists dubbed The Four Horsemen close out their regular Las Vegas spectacular with a bank robbery, rewarding their audience with the stolen money. A show this good naturally doesn’t go unnoticed, and the FBI and Interpol send agents to figure out how their scheme works. [ GoWatchIt ]

'Hugo' (2011)

Martin Scorcese’s Oscar-nominated tale focuses is a delightful feast of movie magic. Asa Butterfield stars as the titular Hugo, a young orphan who lives within the walls of a Paris train station in the years before World War II. He is possession of a mechanical man, to whom he needs a special key so he can unlock the secrets his father left behind. [ GoWatchIt ]

'Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone' (2001)

Based on J.K. Rowling’s series, this first film in the Harry Potter series introduced the world to Daniel Radcliffe, and brought the wonder and merriment of Rowling’s books to the big screen. Witches, trolls, ghosts, and dark magic abound in this fantasy that doesn’t always feel like a children’s movie. [ GoWatchIt ]

• Decider Lists

Whoopi Goldberg Sends Sara Haines Fleeing From 'The View' Stage As She Says "I Like To Be Eaten From Time To Time" 

What Time/Channel Is 'Yellowstone' On Tonight? How To Watch 'Yellowstone' Season 5, Episode 10 Live Online For Free

When Will '1923' Season 2 Premiere on Paramount+?

Laysla De Oliveira Reveals Cruz Wasn’t Initially Part Of ‘Lioness’ Season 2 Until Taylor Sheridan “Found A Powerful Way To Bring Her Back”

Is 'Outlander' On Starz Tonight? 'Outlander' Season 7, Part 2 Premiere Date Info

How To Watch 'Yellowstone' Season 5, Episode 10 Online and on TV

• Drama Movies
• Fantasy Movies

The 12 Best Movies About Magicians, Illusionists, and Psychics

If you buy something using our links, we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. Thanks for your support!

There are thousands of fantasy movies out there set in magical realms with witches and sorcerers, packed with spellbinding escapism.

But what about the magic we encounter in everyday real life? Although stage magicians might not actually break any laws of nature or physics, they do entice us with their promise of illusion.

We can spend hours trying to figure out how they pulled an entire bunny from thin air, or we can just sit back and enjoy being enchanted.

Here are our picks for the best movies featuring stage magicians, illusionists, and psychics, from Victorian times to present day.

12. Red Lights (2012)

Wherever miracles occur, there will also be those who try to debunk them. From ghost hunters to disgruntled scientists, people may seek to expose charlatans for many reasons—but mostly it's because they hate seeing people take advantage of folks who are naïve or grieving.

In the case of Professor Matheson (Sigourney Weaver) and her assistant Tom (Cillian Murphy) in Red Lights , their aim is to demystify paranormal phenomena using the science of physics.

So, who's their target? The world-famous psychic Simon Silver (Robert De Niro). Rodrigo Cortés directs this crowd-pleasing thriller that, despite being a little predictable, is still a fun watch.

11. Magic in the Moonlight (2014)

A Woody Allen rom-com that may have slipped under your radar, Magic in the Moonlight tells the love story of an English illusionist and American mystic who accidentally fall for each other.

On the surface, they seem like the perfect pair—but the only reason they meet is because Stanley (Colin Firth) is called upon to unmask Sophie (Emma Stone) as a fraud!

Like Woody Allen's other film Midnight in Paris (2011), Magic in the Moonlight is set in a dreamy 1920s where there's no such thing as technology to help Stanley catch Sophie out.

10. The Clairvoyant (1935)

Also known as The Evil Mind , The Clairvoyant shows us the danger that true psychic powers would hold.

Unlike the other mediums on this list—who aren't actually magical—Maximus really does have telepathic abilities.

He doesn't know it at first, and it only works when his new lover Christine is around. When all of his tragic predictions come true, the media whips up a frenzy and everyone believes Maximus is the cause.

Claude Rains and Jane Baxter headline Maurice Elvey's black-and-white drama, not to be confused with the 1985 horror by Armand Mastroianni.

9. Now You See Me (2013)

Louis Leterrier combines the heist genre with a bunch of magicians who apply their skills to rob banks.

"The Four Horsemen" break into vaults while performing on stage, then throw all the money at their audience. Of course, this makes them a prime target for an FBI investigation.

Jesse Eisenberg, Mark Ruffalo, Woody Harrelson, Isla Fisher, Dave Franco, Michael Caine, Lizzy Caplan, and Morgan Freeman make up the ensemble cast, with Fisher almost drowning to death in one of the stunts!

Now You See Me got a sequel in 2016, and a third movie—which might just be a spin-off—is supposedly in development.

8. Ghost (1990)

When Ghost released, a shirtless Patrick Swayze making pottery with the love of his life had audiences swooning in theaters. Since then, it's been parodied to this day. Too bad he's actually dead in that scene.

No, that isn't a spoiler—Sam dies at the beginning of the movie and spends the rest of the film's runtime as a ghost stalking his girlfriend, played by Demi Moore.

The only person that can sense Sam's spirit is psychic Oda Mae Brown (Whoopi Goldberg), who didn't even realize she had real powers until hearing Sam's voice.

7. Nightmare Alley (2021)

Guillermo del Toro recently directed this neo-noir remake of Edmund Goulding's 1947 film, based on the novel by William Lindsay Gresham.

As is Del Toro's usual style, Nightmare Alley is a creepy, atmospheric drama that fuses fantasy with realism, painted with dark color grading.

Bradley Cooper stars as a drifter-turn-carnie-turn-psychic in the 1940s, who accidentally kills the clairvoyant act that taught him their secret code.

After he makes a fortune off his rigged act, he gets greedy and falls into the same carnival trap he was warned about years ago.

6. Hugo (2011)

Why do people love cinema? Because it feels like magic.

"If you ever wonder where your dreams come from, look around: this is where they're made," says George Méliès in reference to filmmaking, played in Hugo by Ben Kingsley.

But where did Méliès start all this dream-building? On the stage, of course! Before the moving picture was invented, the real-life Frenchman was a celebrated illusionist who translated his vision to stages.

Martin Scorsese dramatizes the end of the filmmaker's life in Hugo , starring Asa Butterfield and Chloë Grace Moretz.

5. The Illusionist (2006)

Back in the 19th century, social class had the ultimate ruling over who could be in love with whom.

In The Illusionist , Eisenheim the Illusionist (Edward Norton) uses magic tricks to work around this little obstacle and reunite with his lover, the Duchess von Teschen (Jessica Biel). Unluckily for him, this idea gets Eisenheim arrested for necromancy.

Eisenheim first appeared in Steven Millhauser's short story collection The Barnum Museum (1990). Neil Burger brings the magician to life in this romance mystery set in beautiful Vienna, incorporating a fictionalized storyline of the Mayerling incident.

4. Ghost Stories (2017)

Nowadays, it's hard to pull the wool over an audience's eyes with plot twists. Movies are increasingly predictable and repetitive, which makes it such a treat when a plot twist does manage to catch you off guard.

Jeremy Dyson and Andy Nyman gift us a box of tricks with their eerie horror anthology, Ghost Stories . Nyman also stars in the movie as a loner workaholic who spends his life debunking fake psychics.

Philip Goodman (Nyman) does this to stop them taking advantage of people. He probably regrets taking on this particular case, though...

3. The Wizard of Oz (1939)

The eponymous Wizard of Oz isn't actually a wizard at all—he's a normal man who's simply posing as one.

This is terrible news for young Dorothy (Judy Garland), who goes through hell to find the wizard so she can be magically sent back home.

Not only does the wizard's terrifying, huge head turn out to be just an old man at the end of the movie, he then abandons Dorothy!

MGM's infamous musical was a Technicolor feat that brought the vibrant land of Oz to life in a way viewers had never seen.

2. Don't Look Now (1973)

Nicolas Roeg's British horror Don't Look Now has slowly risen in popularity over the past few decades.

Most clairvoyants are shunned for exploiting people's grief because that can have a huge effect on their psychology and belief systems, plus it makes them more susceptible to future manipulation.

Roeg explores this in Don't Look Now , diving into the psychology of loss—in this case, the loss of a child.

Julie Christie and Donald Sutherland star as a recently bereaved couple who are told their daughter is trying to reach them from beyond the grave.

Flashbacks and flashforwards muddle our perception of the narrative, making Don't Look Now an intelligent piece of filmmaking.

1. The Prestige (2006)

Christopher Nolan is a pro at red herrings and puzzle movies, which is perfect for a film about magicians! The Prestige is basically a magic trick itself, just like all cinema is (as George Melies showed us).

"Now you're looking for the secret... but you wont find it, because of course you're not really looking. You don't really want to know. You want to be fooled," Michael Caine's Cutter explains, referring to both the magician's trade and The Prestige 's plot twist.

Hugh Jackman and Christian Bale star as two rival illusionists in 19th century London, with David Bowie making a cameo appearance.

30+ Magician Movies

Here are all the best movies about magicians and illusionists from Hollywood and beyond.

Historically, magic tricks provoked the human imagination and led it into realms beyond the five senses. Magic appeared to be supernatural, the opposite of what can be observed and measured. It was metaphysical, which is why magicians were often seen as competition to religious leaders and often portrayed as sinister witches .

Then when movies came along, so did a whole new form of magic that stimulated the human imagination. The advent of cinema marked a new frontier for fantasy; in so doing, it probably also ended the careers of many magicians, for pulling a rabbit out of a hat simply couldn’t compete with the way movies held people spellbound.

Movies about magicians represent the crossroads between these two worlds—the old world where humans marveled at card tricks and suddenly appearing bouquets of flowers and the new world where people could time-travel and morph into other forms right before your eyes.

The Magician (1898)

In this action-packed, minute-long feature by pioneering French filmmaker and special-effects maestro Georges Méliès, the director himself appears as a magician who conjures a wooden box on a table out of thin air. He jumps into the box, and then out jumps a skinny clown. The clown makes the box disappear and replaces it with a dinner table. When the clown sits down to eat, it disappears and is replace by a sinister devil character. The devil changes into a sculptor, who begins to chisel at a sculpture of a woman, which suddenly transforms into a real-life woman. At the very end, a man in Elizabethan garb appears to kick the sculptor in the butt. As with most early films about magic, the special effects were achieved via jump cuts.

The Magician (1900)

Another minute-long magician film from the dawn of filmmaking, this one was produced in America by Thomas Edison’s Manufacturing Company. It begins in what appears to be someone’s parlor, where a magician wearing a top hat walks onstage. After bowing, he removes both his coat and hat, tosses them up in the air, and they magically disappear. Then he takes a handkerchief, holds it over his dress pants, and when he removes the handkerchief, his pants are replaced by knickers. After waving a magic wand, a table covered in tattered paper appears. When the magician shakes the paper, three geese fly out of it. Edison’s company sold the film to theaters for $9.

Hooligan Assists the Magician (1900)

Clocking in at 96 seconds, this is the longest of our three super-short magician films from the very early Silent Era. It was also produced by Thomas Edison. According to a description by Edison films, “On a stage a professor of magic is performing some wonderful experiments, and when he requests some assistance Happy Hooligan immediately volunteers his services and climbs upon the platform.” Suddenly the magician disappears, replaced by a pair of wooden barrels. Every time the hooligan knocks them down, they manage to sit upright again. Various characters—clowns, ghosts, a goblin, and a demon—appear, all of them assaulting the hapless hooligan. According to Edison films, it all formed “a series of most startling and laughable effects entirely new to animated photography.”

The Wizard of Oz (1939)

In one of the most beloved children’s films of all time that mixes elements of witchcraft and magic, Judy Garland stars as Dorothy Gale, a girl from Kansas who risks losing her beloved dog Toto after a mean local woman threatens to tell the sheriff that Toto bit her. But then a tornado suddenly sweeps through Kansas, lifting Dorothy, Toto, and their house up into the air and causing it to finally land in the magical Land of Oz—but not without landing on the Wicked Witch of the East and killing her. This causes the witch’s sister, the Wicked Witch of the West, to seek vengeance. Dorothy learns that her only safe route back to Kansas is through the magical assistance of the Wizard of Oz. She is assisted in her journey by Glinda, the Good Witch of the North, who lends Dorothy the dead witch’s magical Ruby Slippers. En route to the Wizard, Dorothy meets a Scarecrow (Ray Bolger) who wants a brain, a Tin Woodman (Jack Haley) who wants a heart, and a Cowardly Lion (Bert Lahr) who needs courage. When they finally arrive to see the Wizard, he at first rejects them. Later, Toto pulls aside a curtain behind which the Wizard is hiding, revealing him to be an ordinary old cranky man rather than anyone with supreme magical powers. It turns out that he, too, is from Kansas, and he offers to take Dorothy and Toto back home in his hot-air balloon.

Houdini (1953)

This fictionalized account of world-renowned escape artist Harry Houdini (1874-1926) stars Tony Curtis in the title role and his wife Janet Leigh as a woman who at first rejected his advances but then fell in love with him and became his assistant. It traces his humble beginnings portraying a “wild man” in carnivals and then meeting his wife Bess (Janet Leigh), who convinces him to leave the carnival act and take a job at a lock factory. But when Harry wins the annual magicians’ dinner award by escaping from a straitjacket, he earns a ticket to Europe and finds his first major successes as a magician, famously escaping from a jail cell in London that was said to be escape-proof. Houdini also focuses on Houdini’s most famous feat, which was escaping from a locked trunk beneath the ice in the Detroit River. 

The Magician (1958)

Released in Sweden as Ansiktet, this black-and-white film by legendary director Ingmar Bergman stars Max Von Sydow (who played Jesus in The Greatest Story Every Told ) as Dr. Albert Emanual Vogler, who travels through Europe as the primary performer in “Vogler’s Magnetic Health Theater.” Since the touring troupe’s presentations involve the supernatural, local authorities in Sweden want to investigate and possibly ban them for being unscientific. The film focuses on the interactions between Vogler and authorities in one small Swedish town, who find that they may not quite be prepared to understand exactly what Vogler is doing.

The Wizard of Gore (1970)

Starting with Blood Feast in 1963 and extending well into the 1970s, director Herschell Gordon Lewis invented and popularized the slasher genre with films that are almost unimaginably bloody even by today’s standards. The Wizard of Gore features unsettling footage of women being stabbed in the mouth, drilled through the head, cut in two with a buzzsaw, and being disemboweled by a pile-driver as their bloody viscera hang out. The plot involves a magician who calls himself “Montag the Magnificent” who taunts his audiences about the very nature of reality. The women involved in his performances all seem to survive the goring he gives them onstage, yet they all soon die later of the exact same injuries. A reporter and her boyfriend, suspicious that Montag is a murderer, begin to investigate. Without spoiling the plot, at the end the viewer is left wondering whether anything they just witnessed was real.

Black Magic (1975)

In this Hong Kong horror film that was released as Jiang tou, an evil magician named Shan Chien-mi lives secluded in the woods and works his magic for anyone who wants revenge against an enemy. In return for his favors, they give him gold. A young man named Xu Nuo is in love with a woman named Chu-ying, and they decide to get married. But a jealous widow named Luo Yin has her own designs on Xu, so she seeks the evil magician’s assistance in driving a wedge between the two young lovers. Shan Chien-mi works his magic, and on what was supposed to be their wedding day, Xu breaks up with Chu and begins seeing Luo Yin. But this isn’t enough for the hateful widow—she also requests Shan’s assistance in giving Chu a fatal disease. Meanwhile, a good magician concludes that Shan Chien-mi is up to no good and he finally intervenes, saving Chu before she dies. The sequel Black Magic 2 was released in 1976.

The Young Magician (1987)

In this Canadian/Polish collaborative children’s drama that was released in Quebec as Le jeune magicien and in Poland as Cudowne dziecko, a 12-year-old boy named Peter Meller (Rusty Jedwab) feels ostracized by kids at school because he didn’t receive any time on the ice during a local hockey game. But when his parents take him to a magic show, he suddenly comes alive when the magician selects him to be his assistant for a trick. Peter dives into the world of magic and also accidentally realizes he possesses powers of telekinesis. But this further distances him from the kids at school and alienates his parents. But when a national emergency erupts, he is able to use his powers to save the country and becomes a national hero, finally gaining the acceptance he craved.

Magicians (2000)

In this road-trip comedy, Til Schweiger stars as a flamboyant aspiring magician who is obsessed with Siegfried and Roy. He teams up with a conman (Fabrizio Bentivoglio) and an attractive waitress (Claire Forlani), and they take their magical act to Las Vegas. After getting there, they meet a charismatic and pushy manager (Alan Arkin) who tries to take them to the top. According to the AV Club , “ Magicians gets by largely on the strength of its modest charm, but its generous comic spirit keeps it engaging and brisk, right up to a surprisingly touching finale.”

Harry Potter & The Sorcerer’s Stone (2001)

In this, the first installment of a film series based on the massively successful book series by J. K. Rowling, Daniel Radcliffe stars in the title role as a young orphaned boy who lives with his aunt and uncle who don’t try to hide their resentment for him. Then one day at age eleven, Harry is visited by a man who informs him that he is actually a wizard and gives him an invitation to the Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry. He soon learns that his parents were also wizards and were murdered by an evil wizard named Voldemort. At Hogwarts, Harry also learns that Voldemort is plotting to steal the Sorceror’s Stone. The film led to seven sequels: Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002); Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004); Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005); Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007); Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2009); Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (2010); and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (2011).

The Illusionist (2006)

Set in Vienna in the late 1800s, this adaptation of a Steven Millhauser short story stars Edward Norton as a humble cabinetmaker’s son named Eisenheim whose teenaged romance with the Duchess Sophie von Teschen (Jessica Biel) was thwarted due to their stark class differences. Fifteen years after they parted, Eisenheim has become a famous illusionist and accidentally meets Sophie again while performing a trick onstage. They instantly recognize one another; she still has and treasures the locket he gave her so many years ago. The trouble is that Sophie is engaged to Crown Prince Leopold, a man known for violence toward women and who only seeks to marry Sophie to extend his domain. Leopold and Eisenheim wind up clashing on the latter’s terrain—a world of magic and illusion and sudden, inexplicable escapes.

The Prestige (2006)

Hugh Jackman stars as Robert “The Great Danton” Angier, and Christian Bale portrays Alfred “The Professor” Borden. They used to be a magician’s assistants, but after the tragic death of Angier’s wife during a performance, they become sworn enemies. Over years, they battle one another to perfect a disappearing trick known as “The Transported Man,” both of them arriving at wildly different methods to achieve the same result. But when one of them drowns to death in the midst of performing a trick, the other is tried for his murder.

Death Defying Acts (2007)

Guy Pearce stars as Harry Houdini on a tour of Britain in 1926, the year that the real Houdini died. Catherine Zeta-Jones stars as an Endinburgh-based con artist named Mary McGarvie, who along with her teen daughter Benji (Saoirse Ronan), attempts to swindle Houdini out of his money. As in real life, Houdini switched his attention away from being an escape artist and attempting to prove that psychics and mentalists were frauds. He wrote down his mother’s dying words to him, sealed them in an envelope, and offered a $10,000 prize to anyone who could correctly guess what his mother said. But when Houdini and Mary finally meet, the dynamic changes when they fall in love.

The Illusionist (2010)

Jean-Claude Donda stars as Tatischeff, AKA Tati, a French illusionist in the late 1950s who finds himself with increasingly smaller and lower-paying gigs due to the fact that rock ‘n’ roll has captured the public’s imagination. He moves to Scotland and attempts to scrape together whatever work he can find as an illusionist. While Tati is staying in a rooming house, a young woman named Alice (Eilidh Rankin) drops a bar of soap in the hallway while she’s cleaning. She is mesmerized when Tati picks up the bar of soap and magically transforms it into a new one. She is further charmed when he suddenly appears with a pair of red shoes she’s been wanting to buy but couldn’t afford. The pair engage in a romantic relationship that is cut short one night when Alice leaves Tati for another man. Tati releases his pet rabbit, whom he used to pull out of a hat, into the woods, sells his belongings, writes Alice a note saying “Musicians do not exist,” and leaves Scotland.

Magic Man (2010)

Tatiana (Estelle Raskin) is a young and beautiful aspirant magician with an obsession/crush on famous Las Vegas illusionist Krell Darius (Billy Zane). Together with her close friends Elena (Christina Vidal) and Vera (Sarah Jayne Jensen), they travel to Las Vegas in the hopes of meeting Darius. Tatiana wants to ask him about the mysterious death of her mother, a magician’s assistant, twenty years prior. But after arriving in Vegas, Elena goes out on the town one night and winds up dead. As two Vegas cops work on the murder investigation, we begin to get unexpected glimpses into Tatiana’s dark past.

The Sorcerer’s Apprentice (2010)

Nicolas Cage stars as Balthazar Blake, a modern sorcerer in Manhattan and apprentice of the legendary Merlin the Magician (James A. Stephens). With Merlin’s assistance, Balthazar has kept the forces of evil at bay ever since ancient Europe in the 700s, when Merlin went to war with the wicked witch Morgana Le Fay (Alice Krige). Merlin had sealed both Morgana and her henchman Horvath (Alfred Molina) inside a nested doll. But if the two were ever to escape from the doll, it would signal the end of human civilization. Balthazar can’t keep them at bay alone, though, so he recruits his friend Dave (Jay Baruchel) as an apprentice. 

Hugo (2011)

Asa Butterfield stars as Hugo Cabret, a 12-year-old boy living in Paris in 1931. His widowed father (Jude Law) teaches him how to fix clocks and other mechanical devices. His dad also takes him to see movies, and Hugo especially loves the films of Georges Méliès ( Ben Kingsley ). When Hugo’s father dies, his uncle takes him to a train station, where Hugo winds up fixing the clocks, living between the walls, and scrounging for food after his uncle disappears. He spends his spare time trying revive an automaton his father built that won’t operate without a special key. Hugo believes there’s a magical secret hidden within the automaton, so he makes it his life’s mission to find the special key.

Deceptive Practice (2012)

This documentary is a biography of Ricky Jay, a world-famous magician, author, historian, and actor who has appeared in films by Paul Thomas Anderson and David Mamet. Jay narrates the film, which uses archival footage from an appearance in the 1970s on The Dinah Shore Show where he plays Three-Card Monte with comedian Steve Martin. The film goes all the way back to his early childhood, where at age four he was an apprentice of his magician grandfather, segueing into nostalgic reminiscences about magician legends such as Slydini, Al Flosso, Cardini, and Dai Vernon. More broadly, the film serves as an inside peek into the world of magicians and the oddballs who are obsessed with them.

Desperate Acts of Magic (2013)

Joe Tyler Gold wrote, directed, and stars in this low-budget film as Kant, an amateur magician who attempts to go pro after losing his day job. He enters an international magicians’ competition but winds up falling in love with a female street magician (Valerie Hillman) against whom he’s competing. He now must face an inner conflict where he wants to win the competition but also the girl—and he can’t win both. Desperate Acts of Magic is filled with performances by actual magicians.

Beautiful Creatures (2013)

Ethan Wate (Alden Ehrenreich) is a teenager who lives in the small backwater town of Gatlin, SC, which he desperately seeks to escape. He meets a strange new girl in town, Lena Duchannes (Alice Englert), and they quickly fall for one another. They share their secrets, dreams, and stories about their families. Lena is rejected by the other kids at school because her father, Macon Ravenwood (Jeremy Irons), is thought to be a Satanist. But the truth is that their family are “Casters,” who have supernatural powers of telekinesis and time travel . She also tells Ethan that she is a witch, but she won’t know until her sixteenth birthday whether she will be designated as a good or evil witch. Together the lovers seek a way to break the family spell before Lena turns sixteen.

Now You See Me (2013)

Four small-time magicians (Jesse Eisenberg, Woody Harrelson, Isla Fisher, and Dave Franco) receive invitations to a remote address. Suddenly, a year later, they are the Four Horsemen, top-drawing Las Vegas stage illusionists. At one sold-out show, they actually rob a bank remotely and shower the audience in cash. FBI and Interpol agents are assigned to the case to figure out their secret. Even a professional illusionist debunker named Thaddeus Bradley has trouble getting to the heart of their secret. With one performance after the next, the Four Horsemen pull off a series of very public heists, drown the audience in cash, and evade detection.

Oz the Great and Powerful (2013)

In this story set in the Wizard of Oz universe, James Franco stars as a small-time sleazy magician named Oscar Diggs who, like Dorothy Gale, is suddenly swept away from Kansas and lands in the magical Land of Oz. But just when he thinks his fortunes have taken a turn for the better, he encounters three witches—Glinda ( Michelle Williams ), Theodora ( Mila Kunis ), and Evanora ( Rachel Weisz )—who suspect that he might not be the wizardly savior that Oz has been anticipating. In a fight for his very existence, he must use all the magical powers he has to outwit the witches and become not only the wonderful Wizard of Oz but a reformed and moral man.

The Incredible Burt Wonderstone (2013)

Steve Carell stars in the title role and Steve Buscemi stars as Anton Marvelton, Burt’s partner in magic. Together the two have ruled the Las Vegas magic scene for years. Their show is called “The Incredible Burt & Anton: A Magical Friendship!” starring the “Incredible Burt Wonderstone & Anton Marvelton,” and they perform at a theater in Bally’s that is named after them. Burt and Anton have been friends since they were two bullied teenagers named Anthony Mertz and Albert Wenzlestein, but now their thirty-year friendship is forming cracks because Burt is starting to believe that he’s the star of the show and Anton is merely unnecessary baggage. Complicating matters is the fact that they are suddenly seeing competition from a wild street musician named Steve Gray (Jim Carrey), whose following grows with every mind-bending stunt.

Magic in the Moonlight (2014)

It’s 1928 in Berlin, and an obscure magician named Howard Burkan (Simon McBurney) seeks to find his childhood friend Stanley Crawford (Colin Firth), who has become a famous magician who calls himself Wei Ling Soo and wears heavy makeup and affects an accent to delude people into thinking he’s Chinese. Burkan wants his old friend to travel to southern France with him and expose the American clairvoyant Sophie Baker (Emma Stone) as a fraud. But when Stanley meets Sophie, not only does he fall in love with her, he can find no way to explain her psychic powers and ability to make things levitate.

Jonathan Strange and Mr Norell (2015)

This seven-part BBC TV series of one-hour episodes was based on the 2004 novel of the same name by British writer Susanna Clarke. It is set in England during the 1800s and based on the idea that England was once a magical land three hundred years prior and that magic had returned in the persons of two men: Jonathan Strange and Gilbert Norrell. And “magic” is not meant by “conjuring tricks and illusions,” but by actual, inexplicable magic. Together Mr. Strange and Mr. Norrell pool their magical powers to aid England in its efforts during the Napoleonic Wars.

Doctor Strange (2016)

In this film based on the Marvel comic-book character Doctor Steven Strange, the title character, a famous neurosurgeon, gets into a car accident that severely damages his hands and makes it impossible for him to ever perform surgery again. He spends his life’s savings seeking a surgical cure that never comes. After learning that a paraplegic once walked again, he finds the man, who tells him he was healed in Katmandu. Doctor Strange travels there and is introduced to “The Ancient One,” a woman who introduces him to the astral plane and explains that Earth is protected by three Sanctums in London, Hong Kong, and New York. But a former protege of The Ancient One has turned to the dark side and seeks to destroy the three Sanctums and take over the world. Strange and The Ancient One team together to fend off the minions of the Dark Dimension.

Sleight (2016)

Jacob Latimore stars as Bo, a young LA street magician who takes care of his little sister after their parents died. He doesn’t make too much money from his magic, so he also deals drugs on the side. In order to perfect one illusion where sharp objects appear to pass through his arm, he has set up an electromagnetic device on his arm that makes metal items levitate, but the device has led to a severe arm infection. But when he falls deep into debt to his drug supplier, he must rely on his magical abilities to save both his and his little sister’s lives.

Dealt (2017)

This documentary tells the fascinating story of Richard Turner, widely considered one of the greatest card magicians in the world—a reputation that is made even greater by the fact that Richard is blind. Now in his sixties, both Richard and his sister went blind when they were children. He learned his card abilities when a teacher for the blind supplied him with books on tape about card games. Although his blindness is a natural fascination for viewers, Richard also seems to regret that people focus on his disability rather than his natural abilities at magic. The film quotes him: “I’m Richard Turner. I represent why you should never play cards with strangers.”

War Magician (In Development)

As of late 2021, Colin Trevorrow, director of Jurassic World: Dominion, is slated to direct War Magician, a WWII drama based on a book by David Fisher. Benedict Cumberbatch stars as Jasper Maskelyne, an English illusionist who used his magical powers to help defeat Erwin “The Desert Fox” Rommel, leader of the Nazi forces in Africa. Maskelyne teamed with an international “gang” of magicians from Europe, the Middle East, and Northern Africa in their quest to vanquish the Nazis.

Meet The Author

Chrissy Stockton

Chrissy is the co-founder of Creepy Catalog. She has over 10 years of experience writing about horror, a degree in philosophy and Reiki level II certification.

Please fill out our reader survey.

Your input shapes the future of Creepy Catalog.

15 Best Movies About Magic and Magicians

Magic is often said to be the sleight of the hands. The pessimists reject it with utter disdain as they refuse to be amazed with cheap parlour tricks. That’s the deal with grown ups, they refuse to believe in. But have you ever seen a child’s eyes getting fascinated with the magic? It’s innocence shining in pure delight. Magic has that power over you. Be it a woman getting cut in half or a hidden rabbit in a hat, the glee of getting duped by a man with a bag full of tricks is matched to none. Cinema, which initially was thought of as a magical thing capable of beaming sight and sound on a screen, has often come up with stories of magic. Most of those stories have led to good magicmovies.

We, at the Cinemaholic , went through them and came up with some of the best movies about magic and magicians. Hop on the train as we go opening up the world of magic as Cinema sees it. Alohomora. Here is the list of top movies about magic and magicians of all time. You can watch some of these best magic movies on Netflix or Amazon Prime or Hulu.

15. The Incredible Burt Wonderson (2013)

It might seem like a crime to include this film on a list that has the word ”best” in it. But to be honest, I enjoyed this movie. I wouldn’t call it a guilty pleasure, but the truth is, I expected the film to be worse, but it did not turn out to be that bad. And there are a few things that the film does get right, objectively speaking. We’ll soon get to that. The movie revolves around its titular character, a renowned magician, who decides to team up with his former partner in order to take on a highly skilled, young magician and revive his career. Now with such a simple story, all that the film needed was a good, tight script, but unfortunately, script is the film’s biggest issue. The writing is downright mediocre and for the most part, the plot is annoyingly predictable. However, the performances elevate the film to a somewhat enjoyable level, and that is one of the main reasons why the film deserves a place on the list. Also, there are several memorable, hilarious moments in the movie that kind of make up for its flaws.

14. Now You See Me 2 (2016)

I know ‘Now You See Me 2’ is far from impressive. In fact, parts of it are pretty ordinary, but I’d say that it’s one of the best in the genre. What’s exciting about both this one and its predecessor is that the magic part of the film has been used very well and it makes for a highly entertaining experience. ‘Now You See Me 2’ follows the Four Horseman in Macau, China where they are forced by a tech expert to pull of a dangerous and seemingly impossible heist. The story certainly looks exciting and it has quite a lot of interesting twists and turns that keep you engaged throughout. However, once the film is over, and when you start analyzing the plot-points, you realize that it is extremely convoluted and implausible for the most part. It’s a shame that Ed Solomon, the screenwriter, barely put any thought to the script. With more efforts, we could have had a much more solid, well-constructed plot that would have made for an amazingly entertaining cinematic experience.

However, the film has several positives. The performances are quite good, and they keep us hooked to the film. It also has a distinctive tone that pulls us right into the film’s world. Like I said, it’s still a very entertaining film if you’re willing to leave the logic at the doorstep and are ready to go on a fun ride with several exciting twists. It is highly recommended for fans of caper thrillers/ heist movies .

13. Oz the Great and Powerful (2013)

One of the better films on the list, ‘Oz the Great and Powerful’ centers around a circus magician named Oscar Diggs, who is transported to the magical Land of Oz, where he needs to encounter three lethal witches and conquer them in order to protect the beauty and purity of the land. James Franco stars in the lead role of Oscar Diggs, and he delivers a wildly entertaining, delectable performance that stays within the film’s overall tone. The performance is pretty over-the-top, but it serves the purpose, in my opinion. The other standout performance in the film for me is that of Mila Kunis , who, as Theodora, dominates the screen with her irresistible charm.

Director Sam Raimi’s vision here is commendable and whilst he would have liked the film to have been more tonally consistent, it still makes for an entertaining watch. Overall, the film received mixed-to-positive reviews from critics, with many of them praising the vision and approach while some of them criticized the writing and characterization. Nevertheless, it is one of the best movies on the subject and does complete justice as a spiritual prequel to the iconic 1939 musical / fantasy film , ‘The Wizard of Oz’.

12. Sleight (2016)

One of the finest movies about magic and magicians, ‘Sleight’ is a criminally underrated flick that certainly deserves more love from the cinephile circles. The film tells the story of a young street magician who, in order to support his sister after their parents’ death, gets involved in the drug trade. Things soon get complicated after he gets entangled in the dangers of the crime world as his sister is kidnapped and he needs to his impeccable magic skills to save her. The story is quite simple, unique and exciting. The writing here is brilliant; the plot is crisp, and it doesn’t derail from the major thematic aspects of the story. The writers refrain from indulging in making the plot more convoluted, which is one of the best things about the film. Movies like ‘Now You See Me’ tend to disrespect the viewers’ intelligence at various points, but ‘Sleight’ is a film that makes sure that the film comes off as believable to the viewers.

One of the most striking aspects of the film is how it manages to subvert our expectations. It abstains from using cliche plot-twists that we are so accustomed to seeing in most sci-fi , mystery flicks. Another highlight of the film is actor Jacob Latimore’s performance in the lead role. He carries the film on his own and it his subtle charm, and endearing screen presence that play a crucial role in driving the film forward. It’s a truly amazing performance that defines the tone of the film.

11. Practical Magic (1998)

A family of witches suffers from a curse which does not allow them to fall in love, for it will kill their beloveds. Two sisters, who grow up to be Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman , fight with all their might and magic against a supernatural force to destroy the curse. While the movie didn’t do very well due to various reasons such as poor direction and lazy writing, it still manages to entertain on the account of the performers, especially the insane aunts who bring the house down with their wry humour.

Read More:  Greatest Criminal Masterminds in Movies

10. Leap of Faith (1992)

A faith healer who’s actually a con artist, gets stuck in the middle of a small town as his bus breaks down. Upon discovering that the people of the town are gullible enough to be duped, he, along with his team creates a grand charade to con people. However, things do take a different turn when actual miracles start occurring. Steve Martin and Liam Neeson starrer ‘Leap Of Faith’ tries to explore the grey area between faith and getting conned. It’s a feel good movie, which looks to establish the fact that every sinner, comes around to be a saint.

Read More:  Best Suicide Movies of All Time

9. Now You See Me (2013)

“Look closely, because the closer you think you are, the less you will actually see !!!” Oh, it’s so much of fun when an act bamboozles the viewer. That’s ‘Now You See Me’ for you. When four magicians calling themselves the Horsemen, loot a bank in Paris, while performing live at a Las Vegas show, the FBI gets the wind of it. Along with them, a former magician who specializes in exposing magic acts, also starts investigating them. The rest of story forms as a game of cat and mouse occurs between the magicians and the investigators. Despite the obvious flaws in the script and inconclusive storyline, the movie is rich on entertainment which led it to be the summer blockbuster in 2013.

Read More:  Best Home Invasion Movies of All Time

8. Houdini (1953)

Named after the famous escapologist of all time, the term or expression used in order to explain a vanishing act from an inescapable situation is known as a ‘Houdini’ act. It has been named such because Harry Houdini was famous for his escapes from any confinement that he was put in. Based on his life, a highly fictionalized movie came out in 1953 which primarily aimed at his exploits. Starring Tony Curtis as the protagonist, ‘Houdini’ is a showreel of the man’s spectacular acts and only touches the surface of his troubled relationship.

Read More:  Best Documentaries of All Time

7. Doctor Strange (2016)

Behold, the sorcerer supreme arrives in the world full of superheroes! MCU ‘s ‘Doctor Strange’ is the story of an egoist but acclaimed Doctor who loses his ability to use hands in an accident. Looking for a cure, he roams around the world before he reaches the mystic Kamar-Taj. There he learns the art of various realms and discovers the hidden world of magic. Unlike the comics, this served as the origin story and future movies such as ‘Thor – Ragnarok’ and ‘Infinity Wars’ shall explore more about his powers. The wonderful Benedict Cumberbatch played the titular role and was much appreciated for his portrayal of the sorcerer supreme. The movie stands out for its spectacular and mind tripping visual effects.

Read More:  Best Movies Shot With a Handheld Camera

6. The Magician (1958)

A traveling magician and his group are challenged when a small European town’s leaders including the police superintendent and the minister of health question the veracity of their acts. To put the rumours to rest, they demand a private show to verify the same. What unfurls next is perhaps beyond the grasp of fragile human mind. Directed by the great Ingmar Bergman , ‘The Magician’ encroaches into the sacrosanct territory and dares to ask the question: Does science have an explanation for everything that happens or is there really a God?

Read More:  Most Overhyped Movies of All Time

5. The Illusionist (2010)

Directed by Sylvain Chomet, based on an unproduced script written by the legendary director Jacques Tati, ‘The Illusionist’ tells the story of a struggling French illusionist who travels to Scotland, where his life changes after he meets a beautiful young woman named Alice, who believes he genuinely possesses magical powers. I happened to watch this film recently and I was pleasantly surprised by it. The plot here isn’t particularly original or striking in any way but it’s Chomet’s treatment of the story that stands out for me. It is, in my opinion, one of the most underrated animated movies of recent times.

4. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004)

The whole magical world of Harry Potter and his adventures as he fights his arch nemesis Lord Voldemort, shall go down in the history of cinema as a genre of its own. However, if one has to pick one best movie out of the lot, it will be the ‘Prisoner Of Azkaban’. Continuing Harry’s search for the answers that he seeks, the third movie in the series explores more about his parents and the betrayal that led them to their untimely death. More darker and complex than its predecessors, ‘Prisoner of Azkaban’ is visually striking and is helmed by then-new-now-renowned Alfonso Cuaron .

Read More:  Best Spiritual Movies of All Time

3. Spirited Away (2001)

When a family of three takes a wrong turn to enter the spirit world, things go astray. The father and mother turn into pigs while the daughter remains to fend for herself in a magical world, ruled by a witch. Akin to ‘Alice in Wonderland’ and ‘Wizard of Oz’, in terms of motifs and themes to describe human greed, ‘Spirited Away’ is an animation masterpiece, woven in love. Directed by Hayao Miyazaki and produced by Disney , it received widespread acclaim and won many accolades around the world, including the Academy award for best animated feature film.

Read More:  Best One Sided Love Movies of All Time

2. The Illusionist (2006)

It’s an entertaining story, using politics and magic as the underlying themes. Eisenheim The Illusionist, is a mysterious character with an agenda buried deep down in his heart. He dares to oppose the tyrant crown prince, using the only weapon in his armoury – Magic. Ed Norton poured his heart out while playing this role and you could feel the same, when you see a broken man seeing his dead beloved. Wait, did I say she was dead? Well, before we spoil the surprise, go and watch it, if you haven’t.

Read More:  Best Date Night Movies of All Time

1. The Prestige (2006)

In the game of one-upmanship between two magicians, who channel the deep-rooted hatred for each other, to a lifelong feud which elevates to something sinister and goes beyond imagination and we the viewers, remain as the mute spectators, watching with our incredulous eyes. Directed by the visionary Christopher Nolan , ‘The Prestige’ is a dark tale of bruised ego of men obsessed with secrets. Starring Christian Bale and Hugh Jackman along with Sir Michael Caine and Scarlett Johansson , it has achieved a cult status over years and the credit goes to Mr. Nolan, because just like a magician, he takes the ordinary and makes it do something extraordinary.

Read More:  Biggest Movie Plot Holes of All Time

SPONSORED LINKS

• Movie Explainers
• TV Explainers

Seven Fascinating Films About Magicians

Cinema, magic, and magicians have always been closely interlinked. In the 19 th century, moving images were displayed through shadow play and magic lanterns, which magicians also used in their acts. The earliest cinema reels also showed magic tricks, such as Georges Méliès’s short film The Vanishing Lady  (1896), where the director demonstrates the “magical” disappearance and reappearance of a woman sitting on a chair through special effects, and silent film The Grim Game (1919) also starred the world’s famous escape artist Harry Houdini himself. The 1950s had a particular fondness for the genre, too, as Houdini  (1953), The Mad Magician (1954), The Geisha Boy (1958), as well the first entry on the list below, Ingmar Bergman’s The Magician (1958), were all released in that decade. The tradition of showing magicians and their magic on screen continues to this day, and below are seven fascinating films about magicians.

The Magician (1958)

The Magician is often unjustly bypassed when the talk is about Ingmar Bergman’s greatest films, but it certainly warrants a closer look, and greater awareness and appreciation. In this story loosely inspired by G. K. Chesterton’s play Magic: Fantastic Comedy , a travelling troupe of stage magicians, called Vogler’s Magnetic Health Theatre, makes a stop at one rich and aristocratic dwelling of Consul Egerman (Erland Josephson), and it is there that the Egerman family’s scepticism about the supernatural goes head-to-head with the troupe’s claims to hypnosis, conjuring and fortune-telling. Max von Sydow’s fourth collaboration with Bergman sees him in the role of enigmatic, allegedly mute, conjuror Albert Emanuel Vogler, whose dignified attempts at animal magnetism and trickery start to crumble under the discerning eye of the spoiled bourgeoisie.

Just as Bergman’s The Seventh Seal featured a travelling acting troupe in the midst of the Black Death pandemic and his later picture The Rite questioned suspect actors’ artistic intentions, The Magician centres on the plight of one travelling theatre with a lot to prove and much endure in terms of humiliation for few tangible returns. And, as is the case with other films by the Swedish film master, The Magician does not lend itself to easy plot or character analyses, but Bergman’s transportive story-telling, which strikes a seemingly impossible balance between ironic comedy and horror, directional mastery and notable thriller sequence in the film’s final act all make The Magician a memorable viewing experience.

The Prestige (2006)

As Christopher Nolan’s new film Oppenheimer is set to become the cinematic highlight of this summer, it is now the perfect time to talk about the director and his filmography. All Nolan’s films shine with narrative complexity, with the director often inviting his audience to take a closer look at his story and even try to piece its elements, and The Prestige is no different. Loosely adapting the book of the same name by Christopher Priest, the film is about two rising stage magicians, Robert Angier (Hugh Jackman) and Alfred Borden (Christian Bale), living in the 19 th century London. Though initially friends, Robert and Alfred soon become competitors in trade, wanting to outsmart each other and their audience in the ingenuity of their magic trick inventiveness. The question is then asked: what would a magician would be willing to sacrifice for his art in the hope of becoming the greatest?

With the supporting acting from Michael Caine, Scarlett Johansson, Rebecca Hall, and even David Bowie, The Prestige is one exhilarating cinematic brain-teaser with fine performances, which also raises interesting issues as they relate to science, progress, duality and morality. The film can also be considered twice as smart since the story itself replicates in its structure the main stages of a magic trick as they are presented in the film: 1) the Pledge, 2) the Turn, and 3) the Prestige. In the end, the audience will be fooled, until they realise what they have missed, something tiny, but important, to which they have not really been paying much attention. The Prestige ’s thought-provoking structure and complexity once against demonstrate why Nolan’s films lend themselves so well to being re-watched. The audience would want to discover some previously missed film elements or ponder this or that aspect of a Nolan’s film over and over again, and may even find themselves fooled once more, but then also again awed and thrilled.

The Water Magician (1933)

Kenji Mizoguchi may be known as the director of such classic Japanese films as  Sansho the Bailiff  and Ugetsu , but he also made many silent films, and The Water Magician is one of the few that survived. It adapts the story by Kyōtarō Izumi about Taki (Takako Irie), a prominent water magician, who falls for poor rickshaw driver Kinaya (Tokihiko Okada), who, in turn, wishes to pursue law studies, but has no means of achieving this. Already in love with this stranger and taking pity on him, Taki decides to help him out and sends him to Tokyo, financing his studies. As the time passes, however, Taki’s financial situation worsens and so she believes her hold on her distant beloved. What will she be capable of doing to ensure that Kinaya’s dream comes true and he becomes a lawyer? This is a haunting tale of love and self-sacrifice, which pulls the audience in from its very first scenes showing town Kanazawa giving its welcome to the troupe of skilled artists, including beautiful Taki. The film’s culmination is particularly powerful.

The Illusionist (2010)

Is hand-drawn animation dead in our digital age? Disney and even the most recent Studio Ghibli animation Earwig and the Witch make us believe so, but there are still plenty of hand-drawn works being released, especially when it comes to small production companies and short animations. Moreover, Hayao Miyazaki’s new animation How Do You Live?, based on the classic YA novel by Genzaburo Yoshino, will almost certainly be hand-drawn. Sylvain Chomet’s 2010 animation The Illusionist , based on Jacques Tati’s unproduced script, showcases the full charm and warmth that can emanate from a hand-drawn material as its story tells of French stage magician Tatishcheff who meets and adopts girl Alice. Their journey takes them to Edinburgh, Scotland where they try to get by on Tatishcheff’s meagre salary. Mostly silent, The Illusionist did gather some controversy, including a letter of protest from Jacques Tati’s grandson, but it is still a stunning animated work that is as entertaining as it is deeply moving.

An Honest Liar (2014)

A documentary about magicians can be as exciting as any narrative film, and the thrill of viewing such a film may not reside in making oneself believe in magic, but in following a magician’s journey in disproving it. That is what James Randi (1928-2020), a celebrated magician and escape artist, does in An Honest Liar . Randi always maintained that a special kind of honesty needed to be present in magic trickery, meaning that the public must still be aware that what they see going on in front of them is not some “true magic” or “hypnosis” but a mere skill, often simply sleight of hand. And, there will be plenty of people found who believe in the opposite, in the impossible, in the magic. The documentary follows Randi’s journey to discredit a number of self-proclaimed faith healers, psychics and prophets, who all can do much damage, both personal and societal, in their ultimate goal for popularity and riches. One of Randi’s most notable attempts at discrediting was, of course, his feud with Israeli-British psychic Uri Geller, whose claim to fame was based on his “magical” ability to bend spoons. An Honest Liar, which also touches on Randi’s personal life, is well-made and endlessly eye-opening, and, as paradoxical as it may sound—discrediting magic and promoting scepticism on screen have probably never been as fun to watch.

The Illusionist (2006)

Similar to such film pairs as Kalifornia (1993) and Natural Born Killers (1994), A Bug’s Life (1998) and Antz (1998), and Marguerite (2015) and Florence Foster Jenkins (2016), The Illusionist can also be viewed as a “twin” film of Nolan’s The Prestige and a part of that unofficial series of tied films that happen to revolve around more or less the same theme and be released at around the same time. In this case, director Neil Burger ( Limitless ) presents the adaptation of Steven Millhauser’s short story Eisenheim the Illusionist , which is about one 19 th century stage magician of Vienna by the name of Eisenheim (Edward Norton), whose forbidden love for Duchess Sophie von Teschen (Jessica Biel) leads him to confront her groom, Crown Prince Leopold (Rufus Sewell), a man of allegedly cruel disposition, both on and off stage. Naturally, one of the highlights of the film is all the awe-inspiring magic on display, including the performance of a wondrous illusion known as the “Marvellous Orange Tree”, once known to be staged by French illusionist Jean-Eugène Robert-Houdin. This is a beautiful film about a magician with a compelling love story, exquisite cinematography and an unforgettable twist to boot.

Dealt (2017)

Dealt is a inspiring documentary about Richard Turner (1954-), a renowned American card magician. Although virtually blind since a very young age, Turner never considered himself disabled in any way, and achieved remarkable things with his incomparable sleight of hand card techniques. The story details his early obsession with cards, the development of his talent and skill, his ventures to learn karate, and his struggles with progressive blindness, including the stigma that he faced as a result. We are then taken on Turner’s tours where magic does happen when Turner touches a deck of cards. “Triumph against all odds” documentaries are always special, but Dealt also feels like a very personal journey into a life of obsession, offering an insightful glimpse into the mindset of the world’s greatest card mechanic. If you love card magic, this documentary gem is the one to watch.

Written by Diana Tuova

I am a critic and writer with a background in law. I run two criticism-focused websites: Spotlight on Film and Thoughts on Papyrus, and love films by Tarkovsky, Ozu, Bresson and Buñuel. Apart from my passion for film and writing, I also love travelling, reading classics and learning Japanese.

christopher nolan Ingmar Bergman Kenji Mizoguchi magic magicians the Illusionist

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Film Obsessive welcomes your comments. All submissions are moderated. Replies including personal attacks, spam, and other offensive remarks will not be published. Email addresses will not be visible on published comments.

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

The Cinephile Hissy Fit Podcast Lists Their All-Time Favorite Heroes

Rock Hudson: All That Heaven Allowed Is More (and Less) Than You Need

Add to Collection

Public collection title

Private collection title

No Collections

Here you'll find all collections you've created before.

Magician: The Astonishing Life and Work of Orson Welles (2014)

Stream & Watch Magician: The Astonishing Life and Work of Orson Welles

Cast & Crew

Movie details, featured news.

Similar Movies

Movie Reviews

Follow Moviefone

Latest trailers.

Advertisement

Supported by

Movie Review

A Movie Legend’s Long Run

• Share full article

By Jeannette Catsoulis

• Dec. 9, 2014

Like one of those machines that can inhale a car and spit out a tidy cube of squashed components, “Magician: The Astonishing Life and Work of Orson Welles” is a near-indigestible lump of clips and quips and snipped opinions. Assembled chronologically and delivered at warp speed (there’s enough astonishment here for double the 94-minute running time), this potted history of one of our rarest moviemaking talents offers nothing new for fans and seems likely to overwhelm the uninitiated.

Following his subject from child prodigy to complicated legend, the director, Chuck Workman, touches down so lightly on the mile markers of Welles’s life that he barely leaves an imprint. Artistic triumphs and financial flops, often one and the same, roll by in spotless slices, as do the voices of luminaries, living and dead ( John Houseman , how you are missed), who sing Welles’s praises. Choosing breadth over depth — most maddeningly in a section dealing with the butchered ending of “The Magnificent Ambersons” — Mr. Workman faithfully records a career plagued by projects still unfinished or undone by legal disputes or lack of financing.

Similarly, Welles’s colorful personal life — a rich stew of wives, lovers, feuding daughters and paternity rumors — is skated over as if it were quicksand. What’s left offers little flavor of the mind behind the work, so when a former classmate describes Welles as having “absolutely no empathetic skills” (and then rejects a characterization of him as humble with a disgusted “ugh”), our ears prick up. But the revelations aren’t pursued, leaving the man whom the actress Jeanne Moreau beautifully pronounces “a destitute king” perched on his throne. If, as he claimed, he aspired to make movies “for something except entertainment,” what that might have been remains anyone’s guess.

“Magician: The Astonishing Life and Work of Orson Welles” is rated PG-13 (Parents strongly cautioned). Don’t worry — no one explains the origin of Rosebud, more’s the pity.

Explore More in TV and Movies

Not sure what to watch next we can help..

A ‘Wicked’ Tearful Talk : Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande, the stars of the new movie, reflected on their long ride together , getting through Covid and the actors’ strike, and avoiding “playing to the green.”

Ridley Scott Returns to the Arena :   The director of “Gladiator II” speaks his mind  on rejected sequel ideas, Joaquin Phoenix’s plan to quit the original and working with a “fractious” Denzel Washington.

The Clint Squint : When Clint Eastwood narrows his eyes, pay attention. The master of the big screen is using them to convey seduction, intimidation, mystery and more .

Streaming Guides:  If you are overwhelmed by the endless options, don’t despair — we put together the best offerings   on Netflix , Max , Disney+ , Amazon Prime  and Hulu  to make choosing your next binge a little easier.

Watching Newsletter:  Sign up to get recommendations on the best films and TV shows  to stream and watch, delivered to your inbox.