The Prestige (2006) Review

The Prestige (2006)

Set in 1890s London, The Prestige follows rivaling magicians Angier and Borden, who engage in a battle to create the ultimate illusion while sacrificing everything they have to outwit each other. 

The best part of a magic trick is the final reveal, where all of the magician’s trickery comes to a head and finally pays off, leaving us, the viewer amazed in disbelief. And so it’s in perfect Nolan fashion, whose entire career is built on mind bending reveals, that The Prestige leaves us truly guessing until the very end. Probably one of the more overlooked entries into his catalogue, this is a film of obsession and revenge, themes that were all too relevant for a time where advancement was everything, consuming these two men to their very end. But it wasn’t a rivalry brought on out of the need for advancement but one out of death, that, while they may be unable to act on in real life, can easily act on in putting the other’s life and career in complete shambles. 

For once too, this is the only film I’ve ever really seen where the characters are completely despicable yet, it’s almost out of an alluring curiosity and respect that your drawn in all the same, as the interweaving narratives open you up for as who to root for at any particular time. And of course, the reveal, the final act, the prestige, it’s so well thought out and done, that even with the science fiction elements and clones and the such, you feel for both men, one who gave up half of his life for the trick and one who had to give his whole life each time. It’s heartbreakingly grim, and yet, I expected nothing less. 

We get a stunning cast in Andy Serkis, David Bowie, Scarlett Johansson, Rebecca Hall, Michael Caine, Christian Bale, and Hugh Jackman. Jackman, under the direction of Nolan, is particularly excellent, as you feel all of the pain and darkness that consumes him burst on the scene with each reveal, foiled so excellently by Bale, who like Borden, stays committed to the trick until the very end. 

Based on the novel by Christopher Priest, The Prestige, directed by Christopher Nolan, is all about misdirection—what the eyes see and the ears hear, the mind believes, and in a film as slick, daunting, and multifaceted as this one, misdirection is all you need to craft the perfect trick. 

8.5/10