Now You See Me (2013)

Now You See Me is a 2013 American heist thriller film directed by Louis Leterrier. The film follows the Four Horsemen — a team of illusionists played by Jesse Eisenberg, Woody Harrelson, Isla Fisher, and Dave Franco — who perform elaborate magic shows in which they appear to rob banks and redistribute the stolen millions to their audiences. FBI agent Dylan Rhodes, played by Mark Ruffalo, and Interpol agent Alma Dray, played by Mélanie Laurent, lead a frustrated investigation into the Horsemen's seemingly impossible crimes while a professional magic debunker, played by Morgan Freeman, offers his own theories about how the tricks are performed.

The film's central pleasure was its presentation of magic tricks on a blockbuster scale — each of the Horsemen's performances was designed as an elaborate heist that appeared to violate the laws of physics, and the audience was invited to puzzle over the methods alongside the investigators. The screenplay, while occasionally sacrificing logic for spectacle, maintained a propulsive energy and a sense of fun that audiences found infectious. Now You See Me earned $351 million worldwide on a $75 million budget, a strong commercial performance that surprised industry observers and demonstrated audience appetite for original intellectual property.

Michael Caine appeared as the Horsemen's wealthy benefactor Arthur Tressler, and the film's twist ending recontextualized the entire narrative in a way that divided audiences between those who found it clever and those who felt it cheated. The success spawned a sequel in 2016.