The Prestige

How this film uses it

Nolan spells out the 3-part structure of a magic trick in Cutter's voiceover, and then follows it across the entire film. You are told how the trick works right at the beginning. The film's achievement is that it makes you forget you were told.

Where to see it

Cutter's opening narration: 'Every great magic trick consists of three parts...' The film tells you its structure upfront.

How this film uses it

Angier and Borden each read the other's diary, and both diaries are written to mislead. So your information comes through a chain of narrators you can't trust, each one reading the other's deliberate lies. That is, the film hides its twist inside the way it tells the story.

Where to see it

Angier reading Borden's diary. He doesn't realize Borden wrote it knowing an enemy would read it.

How this film uses it

Both magicians' secrets involve actual doubles: Borden's twin and Angier's cloning machine. The film looks at what it costs to be 2 people. It also shows what the hidden self gives up so the public self can perform. The doubling is the trick and the tragedy at the same time.

Where to see it

The reveal of Borden's twin. Alongside it, you see Angier's cloning tank beneath the stage.

How this film uses it

Neither Angier nor Borden can stop. Nothing from outside pushes the plot to get worse. It gets worse because both men have made their rivalry the meaning of their lives. Nolan gives you no sensible reason for the destruction, because obsession doesn't have one.

Where to see it

Angier sabotaging Borden's bullet catch, which costs Borden 2 fingers. The feud only escalates from there, which shows the obsession has swallowed everything else.