The Prestige (2006)

There are three steps to a magic trick... the setup, the turn (in which an ordinary object does something extraordinary, such as disappear) and the prestige (when the ordinary object is restored through extraordinary means).

The prestige is the payoff, the secret that makes the illusion work.

The film, The Prestige, helmed by Memento and Batman Begins director Christopher Nolan, is an interesting, dark and ultimately disturbing film about magic, competition, obsession and its impact on life. Hugh Jackman and Christian Bale play competing magicians who end up going to some extraordinary means to remain at the top of the game.

The film also stars Michael Caine, Piper Perabo and Scarlett Johansson as co-horts and love interests who feel the full weight of Jackman and Bale's destructive competition.

And, like the magic trick, the film is an illusion of sorts in and of itself, with Act One as the setup, Act Two as the turn and Act Three as the prestige.

You'll be thinking about this film for some time afterwards.