In turn-of-the-century Victorian London, charismatic showman Robert Angier and gifted illusionist Alfred Borden are two young magicians whose friendship is destroyed when the love of Angier's life dies in a trick gone wrong. Their rivalry escalates into an obsession full of deceit and sabotage. When Borden's "transported man" trick becomes famous, Angier will go to any length to top it, even pursuing a fantastic and frightening machine developed by Nicola Tesla.