🎩🪄 The Prestige - how far would you go to win the illusion?

Movie discussion - watch the full film beforehand. Full spoilers, no screening.

What this is

Christopher Nolan’s The Prestige starts as a rivalry between two Victorian magicians. Then it gets meaner. Two men chase the perfect illusion and slowly give more of themselves to the trick: their relationships, their identities, their decency, their ability to stop. Hugh Jackman and Christian Bale are both excellent, but the real pull is watching obsession become a kind of prison with applause at the end. This fits our October run around illusion, belief, identity, and what people are willing to accept if the performance is convincing enough.

A few questions for the room

• “At what point does dedication become self-destruction?”
• “Is the real trick the illusion, or the identity someone builds around it?”
• “Who pays the highest price for being believed?”

When and where

🗓️ Date: Sunday, October 18th, 2026 🕒 Time: 12:00 PM - 2:00 PM PDT 📍 Location: UBC Learning Exchange 612 Main St, Vancouver, BC V6A 2V3, Canada Meeting point: main entrance at 612 Main Street. Please arrive 10 minutes before the start. Doors close 10 minutes after start. Cap: 12