I recently rewatched one of my favorite science fiction movies, The Prestige. It chronicles two rival magicians one upping each other at the turn of the twentieth century. Such a premise certainly doesn’t scream science fiction, but I believe it is, not only in spite of the premise, but because of it.

The opening monologue sets up the entire movie: it’s plot, themes, and character arcs:

“Every great magic trick consists of three parts or acts. The first part is called ‘The Pledge’. The magician shows you something ordinary: a deck of cards, a bird or a man. He shows you this object. Perhaps he asks you to inspect it to see if it is indeed real, unaltered, normal. But of course… it probably isn’t. The second act is called ‘The Turn’. The magician takes the ordinary something and makes it do something extraordinary. Now you’re looking for the secret… but you won’t find it, because of course you’re not really looking. You don’t really want to know. You want to be fooled. But you wouldn’t clap yet. Because making something disappear isn’t enough; you have to bring it back. That’s why every magic trick has a third act, the hardest part, the part we call ‘The Prestige'”.

This monologue is repeated once more at the end, highlighting how it really does sum up the movie’s themes, plot, and character arcs.

In the context of science fiction arising in unexpected ways, the turn is where this apparent historical fiction turns into science fiction. One of the magicians, Robert Angier, after finally being convinced that Nikola Tesla’s attempted transportation device—the novum—is a failure, discovers all of the items not only transported (simply farther than expected), but also cloned. This sets up the rest of the movie, in which Angier clones and transports himself every night in an attempt to one up his rival Alfred Borden. The catch is, it is his clone that survives, while he drowns himself every night. It is all a set up not only to one up Borden, but to lure Borden backstage to frame him with his drowning body. It is not the last twist of the film, but when the viewer reaches this point, it is clearly a science fiction movie.

Ultimately, I do believe this “turn” to science fiction makes the Prestige especially great sci fi. The turn introduces entirely new stakes, and really an entirely new world, that shocks the audience.

This same technique is employed in Ursula Le Guin’s short story Semley’s Necklace, possible my favorite science fiction short story. The potential for science fiction is never too far from the beginning, with the implication of alien colonists, and an opening scene depicting colonial scientists considering who the protagonist is. However, it initially appears to be bite size epic fantasy—a young women’s journey to reclaim a family heirloom in a medieval world. So when she finds herself transported to the colonizer’s museum, where her family heirloom is simply a trivial trinket, and casually returned to her, the turn is shocking even in spite of its set up.

The Prestige and Semley’s Necklace—one a blockbuster feature film and one a short story—both are excellent examples of the power of science fiction making a dramatic appearance to turn the direction of a story.