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Movies like The Magician

Key Features:
Persecution, Magic, Illusion, Power dynamics, 19th century, Sweden, Social commentary, Deception, Intrigue
Tone:
serious, restrained, poetic
Target Audience:
Art house cinema enthusiasts, Fans of historical dramas, Viewers interested in social commentary
Emotional Arc:
Intrigue → Tension → Defiance

The Magician

1958-12-26
The Magician Poster - Find Similar Movies

A traveling magician and his assistants are persecuted by authorities in 19th century Sweden. Their capture, however, didn't bring victory to those in power.

Genres
Drama
Cast
Max von Sydow, Ingrid Thulin, Gunnar Björnstrand, Naima Wifstrand, Bengt Ekerot, Bibi Andersson, Gertrud Fridh, Lars Ekborg, Toivo Pawlo, Erland Josephson
Crew
Ingmar Bergman, Ingmar Bergman
Rating
7.363(233 votes)
The MagicianThe Magician
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Sawdust and Tinsel
7.3

A number of complicated relationships develop between a circus ringmaster, his estranged wife and his lover.



Magicians
Magicians(2007)
5.9

A pair of rivaling stage magicians are forced to confront their falling out over a guillotine mishap when they compete in a magic competition.



Persona
Persona(1966)
8.1

A young nurse, Alma, is put in charge of Elisabeth Vogler: an actress who is seemingly healthy in all respects, but will not talk. As they spend time together, Alma speaks to Elisabeth constantly, never receiving any answer.



The Rite
The Rite(1969)
6.833

Called to court on obscenity charges, a theatre troupe are forced to expose their neuroses and inner psychological torments.



The Illusionist
7.295

With his eye on a lovely aristocrat, a gifted illusionist named Eisenheim uses his powers to win her away from her betrothed, a crown prince. But Eisenheim's scheme creates tumult within the monarchy and ignites the suspicion of a dogged inspector.



The Touch
The Touch(1971)
5.8

A Swedish housewife begins an adulterous affair with an American archaeologist, unaware of his emotional scars as a Holocaust survivor; consequently, their relationship will be painfully difficult.



Shame
Shame(1968)
7.517

In the midst of a civil war, a pair of former violinists in a tempestuous marriage oversee a farm on a rural island. In spite of their best efforts to escape their homeland, the war impinges on every aspect of their lives.



The Emigrants
7.4

Karl and Kristina Nilsson work on a farm in a cold and desolate area of 19th century rural Sweden. Growing privations, combined with increasing social and religious persecution, motivate the Nilssons and many of their neighbors to strike out for the United States. Following a treacherous ocean crossing and an equally grueling land passage, the emigrants find themselves in seemingly idyllic Minnesota.



Witch Hunt
6.7

In a modern America where witches are real and witchcraft is illegal, a sheltered teenager must face her own demons and prejudices as she helps two young witches avoid law enforcement and cross the southern border to asylum in Mexico.



Witchhammer
7.5

In the 1600s, an overzealous clergy hauls innocent women in front of tribunals, forces them to confess to imaginary witchery, and engages in brutal torture and persecution of their subjects.



Thelma
Thelma(2017)
6.794

A college student starts to experience extreme seizures. She soon learns that the violent episodes are a symptom of inexplicable abilities.



The Magician
6.946

Failed magician Iskender decides to do a tour to save his career, but has to bring his grumpy and senile father along. The tour is quite unexpectedly interrupted when a bride actually disappears from the stage.



The Trial
The Trial(1962)
7.4

The surreal tale of an unassuming man who is accused of a never-specified crime and shambles through bizarre encounters to escape this nightmare.



Lost Illusions
7.4

Lucien de Rubempré, a young, lower-class poet, leaves his family's printing house for Paris. Soon, he learns the dark side of the arts business as he tries to stay true to his dreams.



Border
Border(2018)
6.688

When a border guard with a sixth sense for identifying smugglers encounters the first person she cannot prove is guilty, she is forced to confront terrifying revelations about herself and humankind.



The Passion of Anna
7.453

A recently divorced man and an emotionally devastated widow begin a love affair.



The New Land
7.52

A Swedish immigrant family struggles to adapt to their new life on the American frontier during the second half of the 19th century amidst civil war, native uprising and the lure of gold in California.



The Prestige
8.205

A mysterious story of two magicians whose intense rivalry leads them on a life-long battle for supremacy -- full of obsession, deceit and jealousy with dangerous and deadly consequences.



Occhio, malocchio, prezzemolo e finocchio

The film is divided into two episodes, The Hair of Disgrace and The Magician, both focusing on the theme of the occult and beliefs.



Oz the Great and Powerful

Oscar Diggs, a small-time circus illusionist and con-artist, is whisked from Kansas to the Land of Oz where the inhabitants assume he's the great wizard of prophecy, there to save Oz from the clutches of evil.



Fellini's Casanova
6.914

Imprisoned for practicing black magic, writer and adventurer Giacomo Casanova escapes and wanders Europe, using his fluid sexuality to find his place in life amid a variety of eccentric and strange characters.



The Mysterious Magician

The sister of a famous, but as yet uncaught, criminal named "The Hexer" is murdered. Inspector Higgins of Scotland Yard believes that "The Hexer" will surface to take his revenge on his sister's killers, and plans to set a trap to finally capture him. However, soon bodies start piling up, and it looks as if "The Hexer" may get away yet again.



The Raven
The Raven(1963)
6.271

A magician who has been turned into a raven turns to a former sorcerer for help.



The Serpent's Egg
6.238

In 1923 Berlin, following the suicide of his brother, an American acrobat struggles to survive while facing unemployment, depression, alcoholism, and the social decay of Germany during the Weimar Republic.



From the Life of the Marionettes

An account of the events before and after a murder committed by a disturbed businessman in a strained marriage, and what led him to perform such a shocking act.



The Privilege
5.2

A wealthy teen and his friends attending an elite private school uncover a dark conspiracy while looking into a series of strange supernatural events.



The Square
6.75

A prestigious Stockholm museum's chief art curator finds himself in times of both professional and personal crisis as he attempts to set up a controversial new exhibit.



Winter Light
7.9

A Swedish pastor fails a loving woman, a suicidal fisherman and God.



The Hypnotist
5.559

After a young woman and her parents are murdered by a killer determined to wipe out the entire family, Detective Inspector Joona Linna works with a psychiatrist to hypnotize the son who narrowly escaped death in order to find the one surviving daughter before the murderer does.



The Circle
5.299

An otherworldly evil is slipping into a small town in Sweden. Six unrelated girls have been chosen to fight this evil. Together they must overcome their differences in order to save themselves and the world.



Mark of the Devil
6.1

In 1700s Austria, a witch-hunter's apprentice has doubts about the righteousness of witch-hunting when he witnesses the brutality, the injustice, the falsehood, the torture and the arbitrary killing that go with the job.



The Birdcatcher
5.5

Norway, 1942, during World War II. After being separated from her family, Esther, a young Jewish girl from Trondheim, arrives at an isolated farm where she must assume a new identity in order to survive the Nazi persecution.



Fanny and Alexander
7.78

As children in the loving Ekdahl family, Fanny and Alexander enjoy a happy life with their parents, who run a theater company. After their father dies unexpectedly, however, the siblings end up in a joyless home when their mother, Emilie, marries a stern bishop. The bleak situation gradually grows worse as the bishop becomes more controlling, but dedicated relatives make a valiant attempt to aid Emilie, Fanny and Alexander.



Through a Glass Darkly

Karin hopes to recover from her recent stay at a mental hospital by spending the summer at her family's cottage on a tiny island. Her husband, Martin, cares for her but is frustrated by her physical withdrawal. Her younger brother, Minus, is confused by Karin's vulnerability and his own budding sexuality. Their father, David, cannot overcome his haughty remoteness. Beset by visions, Karin descends further into madness.



The Sorcerers
6.104

An aging hypnotist creates a device that allows the user to control the mind of another person, but his wife abuses its power by manipulating a younger man to commit evil acts.



Hour of the Wolf
7.4

While vacationing on a remote German island with his younger pregnant wife, an artist has an emotional breakdown while confronting his repressed desires.



The Invisibles
7.1

Four young Jews survive the Third Reich in the middle of Berlin by living so recklessly that they become "invisible."



Involuntary
6.5

In several unrelated stories, the consequences of putting one's foot down – or failing to do so – are explored.



The Illusionist
7.253

A French illusionist travels to Scotland to work. He meets a young woman in a small village. Their ensuing adventure in Edinburgh changes both their lives forever.



Giordano Bruno
6.304

Fleeing from his enemies in the Catholic Church, the free thinking philosopher, poet and scientist Giordano Bruno has found some protection in Venice. But the Roman Inquisition, fearing his influence in Europe, wants to bring him on trial for 'heresy'.



The Servant
7.6

Indolent aristocrat Tony employs competent Barrett as his manservant and all seems to be going well until Barrett persuades Tony to hire his sister as a live-in maid.



The Wizard of Gore
4.711

In the darkly phantasmagorical world of the carnival magician and sideshow hypnotist, the gruesome "illusions" of Montag the Magnificent are unique in that they seem to become retroactive reality long after the the tricks are done. Is it coincidence, or circumstantial evidence of the world's most diabolically ingenious murders? When an underground journalist begins to investigate the strange deaths, the truth proves to be far more bizarre and disturbing than anything he or his readers might have imagined.



The Counterfeiters
7.4

The story of Jewish counterfeiter Salomon Sorowitsch, who was coerced into assisting the Nazi operation of the Sachsenhausen concentration camp during World War II.



The Simple-Minded Murderer

The feeble-minded Sven's mother dies and he gets work as a farm-hand at the rich, affluent Höglund's farm. He has to work without pay and sleeps together with the cows. He meets the disabled Anna who is the first one to treat him as an adult. One day he has had enough of Höglund's maltreatment and moves in with Anna's family. Plot by Mattias Thuresson.



The Master and Margarita

A writer in 1930s Moscow has his work banned and is expelled from the official union, leaving him without income. He then writes a novel about a mysterious dark visitor and gradually starts confusing his real life with the story.



The Element of Crime
6.367

Fisher, an ex-detective, decides to take one final case when a mysterious serial killer claims the lives of several young girls. Fisher, unable to find the culprit, turns to Osbourne, a writer who was once respected for his contributions to the field of criminology. Fisher begins to use Osbourne's technique, which involves empathizing with serial killers; however, as the detective becomes increasingly engrossed in this method, things take a disturbing turn.



The Marco Effect
5.8

When a homeless Romani boy is arrested at the Danish border for possession of a missing public servant's passport, police inspector Carl Mørck and Department Q are tasked with finding the connection.



Albert Nobbs
6.354

Albert Nobbs struggles to survive in late 19th century Ireland, where women aren't encouraged to be independent. Posing as a man, so she can work as a butler in Dublin's most posh hotel, Albert meets a handsome painter and looks to escape the lie she has been living.



The Immigrant
6.323

1921 New York. An immigrant woman is tricked into a life of burlesque and vaudeville until a dazzling magician tries to save her and reunite her with her sister who is being held in the confines of Ellis Island.



Freaks Out
7.267

Four super-powered circus freaks find themselves trapped in war-torn Rome after their foster father is captured by the Nazis.



The Little Witch

The little witch is only 127 years old – too young for the annual coven of witches. Although she is not yet old enough to be a real witch she wants to become a really good one. This decision causes trouble inside her magic world.



Lunacy
Lunacy(2005)
6.754

A man takes up residence with a mysterious marquis and is soon persuaded to enter into an asylum for preventative therapy. Things are not what they seem, and the marquis may be even more sinister than what the young man might have predicted.



Afterimage
6.6

In 1945, as Stalin sets his hands over Poland, famous painter Wladislaw Strzeminski refuses to compromise on his art with the doctrines of social realism. Persecuted, expelled from his chair at the University, he's eventually erased from the museums' walls. With the help of some of his students, he starts fighting against the Party and becomes the symbol of an artistic resistance against intellectual tyranny.



The Magic Flute
7.191

The Queen of the Night enlists a handsome prince named Tamino to rescue her beautiful kidnapped daughter, Princess Pamina, in this screen adaptation of the beloved Mozart opera. Aided by the lovelorn bird hunter Papageno and a magical flute that holds the power to change the hearts of men, young Tamino embarks on a quest for true love, leading to the evil Sarastro's temple where Pamina is held captive.



The Illusion
6.814

1860. Giuseppe Garibaldi began from Quarto the adventure of the Thousand surrounded by the enthusiasm of the young idealists who had come from all regions of Italy, and with his loyal group of officers, among whom a new profile stands out, that of Palermo Colonel Vincenzo Giordano Orsini. Among the many militiamen recruited were two Sicilians, Domenico Tricò, a farmer who had emigrated to the North, and Rosario Spitale, an illusionist. Having landed in Sicily, at Marsala, the Thousand begin fighting with the Bourbon army, whose numerical preponderance is immediately evident. Under these conditions, it appears almost impossible for the general to breach the enemy defense and penetrate Palermo. But when he is almost forced to retreat, Garibaldi devises an ingenious plan.



The Spy
The Spy(2019)
6.1

Sonja Wigert, Scandinavia's most acclaimed female movie star, enlists as a spy for Swedish intelligence but ends up becoming entangled with the German Reichskommissar Terboven.



The Hunt
The Hunt(2012)
8.095

A teacher lives a lonely life, all the while struggling over his son’s custody. His life slowly gets better as he finds love and receives good news from his son, but his new luck is about to be brutally shattered by an innocent little lie.



Angel
Angel(2016)
6.303

Once upon a time there was Louise and her friend, the magician. But his last trick left a bitter taste in her mouth. He disappeared in a curtain of smoke… never to appear again. This is too much for the young woman. Devastated by endless grief, Louise is sent to a psychiatric asylum, resigned to the idea that she will swallow pills till the end of her days. Yet nine months later she gives birth to a child who is likely to have a big problem for his future class pictures, since he’s invisible. But Louise doesn’t care. He’s her angel and, wanting to protect him from this cruel world, she decides to keep his existence a secret. Years later, Louise’s angel has grown up. He even managed to find a girlfriend; Madeleine. The two become inseparable, for Madeleine never judges him. And for good reason: she’s blind.



The Silence
7.5

Traveling through an unnamed European country on the brink of war, sickly, intellectual Ester, her sister Anna and Anna's young son, Johan, check into a near-empty hotel. A basic inability to communicate among the three seems only to worsen during their stay. Anna provokes her sister by enjoying a dalliance with a local man, while the boy, left to himself, has a series of enigmatic encounters that heighten the growing air of isolation.



Lord of Illusions
5.946

During a routine case in L.A., NY private investigator Harry D'Amour stumbles over members of a fanatic cult who are preparing for the resurrection of their leader Nix, a powerful magician who was killed 13 years earlier.



Miracle in Milan
7.3

Once upon a time a wise and kind old woman discovers a baby in her cabbage patch. She brings up the child and, when she dies, the boy, Totò, enters an orphanage. Totò leaves the orphanage a happy young man, and looks for work in post-war Milan. He ends up with the homeless and organizes them to build a shanty town in a vacant lot. But when greedy developers threaten the community’s land, Totò will need all the help he can get in order to find an impossible way out.



Midori
Midori(1992)
6.1

After losing her parents, young flower selling Midori is put up by a fairground group. She is abused and forced to slavery, until the arrival of an enigmatic magician of short stature, who gives her hope for a better future.



Faithless
Faithless(2000)
6.6

Scripted by Ingmar Bergman, this very personal film is about a destructive affair which wrecks the marriage of an actress (Marianne) and musician (Markus). Wanting to continue the affair, Marianne moves in with her lover. But she is tormented by Markus' decision not to let her have custody of their daughter. Finally Markus announces he may have a solution to the stalemate, but this leads to deception, lies and ultimately, tragedy.



The Enigma of Kaspar Hauser

The film follows Kaspar Hauser, who lived the first seventeen years of his life chained in a tiny cellar with only a toy horse to occupy his time, devoid of all human contact except for a man who wears a black overcoat and top hat who feeds him.



Dreams
Dreams(1955)
7

Two different women – a young photo model and her boss – dream about a happy life with beloved men. Their dreams are as different as they are.



The Great Magician
6.1

In the years after the Revolution, China broken up into fiefdoms held by warlords, who are busy fighting each other. One warlord has imprisoned a girl and wants her to be his seventh wife, but he's too honorable to force her. The local revolutionaries wants to kill him and bring back the republic. But when a stranger returns from abroad with mastery of magic to recover the girl he loved, who is tricking whom and who will win at the end?



Pan's Labyrinth
7.757

In post–civil war Spain, 10-year-old Ofelia moves with her pregnant mother to live under the control of her cruel stepfather. Drawn into a mysterious labyrinth, she meets a faun who reveals that she may be a lost princess from an underground kingdom. To return to her true father, she must complete a series of surreal and perilous tasks that blur the line between reality and fantasy.



The Jews
The Jews(2016)
4.3

Four separate stories deal with stereotypical ideas about Jews: their alleged influence on politics, the stereotype of Jewish business-mindedness, the Mossad, the Jewish world conspiracy and the memory of the Holocaust.



The Love Witch
6.467

A modern-day witch uses spells and magic to get men to fall in love with her, with deadly consequences.



The Confession
7.3

The vice-minister of Foreign Affairs of Czechoslovakia, knowing he's being watched and followed, is one day arrested and put into solitary confinement.



Dungeons & Dragons
4.3

The Empire of Izmer is a divided land: elite magicians called “mages” rule while lowly commoners are powerless. When Empress Savina vows to bring equality and prosperity to her land, the evil mage Profion plots to depose her.



The Incredible Burt Wonderstone

After breaking up with his longtime stage partner, a famous but jaded Vegas magician fights for relevance when a new, "hip" street magician appears on the scene.



The Innocents
6.9

Four children become friends during the summer holidays, and out of sight of the adults they discover they have hidden powers. While exploring their newfound abilities in the nearby forests and playgrounds, their innocent play takes a dark turn and strange things begin to happen.



Invincible
6.167

A Jewish strongman performs in Berlin as the blond Aryan hero Siegfried.



The Shamer's Daughter
5.831

The Shamer's daughter, Dina, has unwillingly inherited her mother's supernatural ability. She can look straight into the soul of other people. When the sole heir to the throne is wrongfully accused of the horrible murders of his family, it is up to Dina to uncover the truth, but soon she finds herself whirled into a dangerous power struggle with her own life at risk.



Interrogation
7

In Stalinist Poland, cabaret singer Tonia decides to spend the evening drinking with a group of friends. The next morning, she awakes to find that, for reasons unknown to her, she has been jailed as a political prisoner. As prison officials interrogate, torture and humiliate her, she fights for survival and to maintain her innocence by refusing to sign a false confession. As her years of imprisonment pass, her relationship with her captors grows more complicated.



The Virgin Spring
7.8

Devout Christians Töre and Märeta send their only daughter, the virginal Karin, and their foster daughter, the unrepentant Ingeri, to deliver candles to a distant church. On their way through the woods, the girls encounter a group of savage goat herders who brutally rape and murder Karin as Ingeri remains hidden. When the killers unwittingly seek refuge in the farmhouse of Töre and Märeta, Töre plots a fitting revenge.



Pelle the Conqueror

In the late 19th century, two Swedish emigrants, Lasse Karlsson and his son Pelle, arrive on the Danish island of Bornholm hoping to find work on a farm and save enough money to travel to the United States of America.



The Brothers Grimm
5.843

Folklore collectors and con artists, Jake and Will Grimm, travel from village to village pretending to protect townsfolk from enchanted creatures and performing exorcisms. However, they are put to the test when they encounter a real magical curse in a haunted forest with real magical beings, requiring genuine courage.



The Ritual
5.915

Two priests, one in crisis with his faith and the other confronting a turbulent past, must overcome their differences to perform a risky exorcism.



The Golem
The Golem(2018)
5.7

A re-imagining of the old mystical folklore that follows a woman and a tight-knit Jewish community that is besieged by foreign invaders. She conjures a dangerous creature to protect them but it may be more evil than she ever imagined.



The American Society of Magical Negroes

A young man, Aren, is recruited into a secret society of magical Black people who dedicate their lives to a cause of utmost importance: making white people’s lives easier.



Guilty by Suspicion
6.465

Owing to his alleged involvement with communist parties, film director David Merrill is forbidden from working in Hollywood. He decides to fight for his rights and faces numerous challenges.



Coven
Coven(2020)
6.7

French Basque Country, year 1609. The men of a small fishing village have gone to sea. Judge Rostegui, who has been charged by the king with ridding the country of the devil's wiles, arrests Ana and her friends and accuses them of witchcraft.



Hagazussa
Hagazussa(2018)
5.673

In the 15th century, a young goatherd living alone in a mountain hut feels a dark presence in the woods.



Stockholm
Stockholm(2013)
6.259

The story of the encounter between a boy and a girl. He confesses that he fell in love with her at first sight, but she does not believe him. However, as they walk through the night in Madrid, they share their desires, secrets, and maybe a few little lies. But soon the film brings us back to the harsh reality of power struggles, psychological games and conflicts between the sexes. Stockholm thus offers an incredible reading of the relations between young people today.



The Magician's Elephant

Peter is searching for his long-lost sister when he crosses paths with a fortune teller in the market square. His only question is: is his sister still alive? The answer, that he must find a mysterious elephant and the magician who will conjure it, sets Peter off on a journey to complete three seemingly impossible tasks that will change the face of his town forever.



The Confession
6.511

Under the German occupation, in a small French town, the arrival of a new priest arouses the interest of all women... Barny, a young communist and atheist woman, can not however be more indifferent. Driven by curiosity, the young skeptic went to the church in order to challenge this.



Requiem
Requiem(2006)
6.6

Michaela, an epileptic, enrolls in college to study education. She goes off her medication and soon begins hearing voices and seeing apparitions that tell her to avoid religious objects, although she is devoutly Roman Catholic. One priest scoffs at the idea that Michaela could be possessed by demons, but a younger pastor arranges an exorcism for the young woman.



Android
Android(1982)
5.324

Eccentric scientist Dr. Daniel and his shy assistant Max lead a quiet life on their space station, carrying out illegal research on androids, until they receive an unwelcome visit from three fugitives one of whom is female. Both Dr. Daniel and Max show an interest in her, but one of the other visitors has more sinister intentions.



Dark Spell
6.6

Terror strikes when a heartbroken woman uses black magic to get her husband back.



Hunger
Hunger(1966)
7.3

In 1890, Pontus, the starving writer, wanders the streets of Christiania, in search of love and a chance to get his work published. All he meets is defeat and suffering while his sense of reality is withering. One moment he is delighted and the next he curses everybody. All the time he manages to maintain human dignity and pride.



Stolen
Stolen(2024)
6.202

A young woman struggles to defend her Sámi heritage in a world where xenophobia is on the rise, climate change is threatening reindeer herding, and young people choose suicide in the face of collective desperation.



Balkan Spy
7.6

Convinced that his subtenant is a spy and an enemy of the state, Ilija Čvorović falls into deep paranoia which leads to an absurd and destructive chain of events.



Trouble
Trouble(2024)
6.664

Wrongfully convicted of murder, a clumsy electronics salesman faces police corruption and criminal conspiracies in an attempt to prove his innocence.



The Devil
The Devil(1988)
7.2

Young Polish nobleman Jakub is saved from imprisonment by a stranger. In return, the stranger wants to obtain a list of Jakub’s fellow conspirators. As he follows his mysterious savior across the country, Jakub is affected by the overall chaos and moral corruption; he goes insane and becomes a mass murderer.



The Cabinet of Caligari

A delirious young woman feels trapped in a remote mansion at the mercy of a madman.



Anita, Swedish Nymphet

Anita, a young woman with a troubled childhood and a hunger for love, finds a soul mate in Erik, a kindly college student.



Devil's Bride
5.864

Anna is a 16-year old in a village where women are accused of witchcraft. It's based on the witch hunts on Åland, Finland in the 1600s.

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