This film is part of Rentals

Death Defying Acts
The great illusionist Harry Houdini (Guy Pearce) meets his match when the charming and manipulative Mary McGarvie (Catherine Zeta-Jones) magically appears in his life.
Director: Gillian Armstrong
Overview
The great magician Harry Houdini (Guy Pearce) is at the height of his fame when he offers $10,000 to anyone who can quote back to him his mother’s dying words. The offer piques the interest of budding con-artist Mary McGarvie (Catherine Zeta-Jones), and with her daughter Benji (Saoirse Ronan) she sets out to infiltrate Houdini’s inner life. Despite the protestations of Houdini’s manager (Timothy Spall), the illusionist and the arch manipulator are soon on their way to romantic entanglement.
Gillian Armstrong’s sly and seductive romance boasts lavish period detail and two cracking lead performances, with Zeta Jones on especially fine form, building on the devilish charm previously displayed in films like Intolerable Cruelty.
Related

When Autumn Falls When Autumn Falls
Drama 2024 104 mins Director: François Ozon
The ever-inventive François Ozon offers a bittersweet tale with a twist or two, about age, youth, the past and the art of breaking the rules.

Gholam Gholam
Drama 2017 95 mins Director: Mitra Tabrizian
An Iranian exile in London, who is haunted by his past, gets involved in the conflicts of a total stranger and has to see it through until the end, in this mesmerising slow-burn thriller.

When the Light Breaks When the Light Breaks
Drama 2024 77 mins Director: Rúnar Rúnarsson
A young woman is forced to reframe the future she’d hoped for, in Rúnar Rúnarsson’s quietly breathtaking elegy of love, loss and acceptance.

Words of War Words of War
Drama 2025 117 mins Director: James Strong
Maxine Peake leads an excellent cast in this true story of journalist Anna Politkovskaya’s fight to expose corruption and abuse in Putin’s Russia.

The Return The Return
Drama 2024 116 mins Director: Uberto Pasolini
Ralph Fiennes and Juliette Binoche are superb in this moody and poignant adaptation of the final sections of Homer's Odyssey.

E.1027 - Eileen Gray and the House by the Sea E.1027 - Eileen Gray and the House by the Sea
Drama-documentary 2024 90 mins Director: Beatrice Minger
A love triangle of jealousy in the Parisian art scene of the 1930s is brought to life in a stylish docufiction about the iconic artist and architect.

High-Rise High-Rise
Science Fiction 2016 119 mins Director: Ben Wheatley
Ben Wheatley's savage and brilliant adaptation of JG Ballard's dystopian satire, starring Tom Hiddleston.

Kill List Kill List
Crime 2011 92 mins Director: Ben Wheatley
Ben Wheatley’s ultra-violent second feature, invoking both The Wicker Man and Apocalypse Now.

Attack the Block Attack the Block
Crime 2011 88 mins Director: Joe Cornish
Aliens wage war on a tower block after one of their number is bludgeoned by a street gang in this witty, action-packed feature debut by Joe Cornish.
Wildfire Wildfire
Drama 2020 84 mins Director: Cathy Brady
Sisterly bonds are pushed to breaking point in this simmering drama set on the Irish border, the debut feature from acclaimed shorts director Cathy Brady.

True Things True Things
Drama 2021 102 mins Director: Harry Wootliff
Ruth Wilson is at her best in this compelling drama about a lonely woman whose life is changed by Tom Burke, the dangerous stranger who offers something different.

The Souvenir Part II The Souvenir Part II
Drama 2020 107 mins Director: Joanna Hogg
The second chapter of Joanna Hogg’s semi-autobiographical masterpiece and winner of Sight and Sound's 'Best Films of 2021' poll.

The King's Speech The King's Speech
Historical drama 2011 113 mins Director: Tom Hooper
Oscar-winning tale of the relationship between King George VI (Colin Firth) and the Australian speech therapist who treated his stammer.

The Rover The Rover
Crime 2014 103 mins Director: David Michôd
Guy Pearce and Robert Pattinson star in a post-apocalyptic thriller set in the Australian outback, from the director of Animal Kingdom.

Brimstone Brimstone
Western 2017 148 mins Director: Martin Koolhoven
Guy Pearce, Dakota Fanning, Kit Harington star in a brutal revenge tale about a mute midwife in the old American west.

Holding the Man Holding the Man
Biopic 2015 128 mins Director: Neil Armfield
A sweepingly romantic adaptation of Timothy Conigrave’s best-selling memoir, an impassioned love letter to his partner, John Caleo.

When Autumn Falls When Autumn Falls
Drama 2024 104 mins Director: François Ozon
The ever-inventive François Ozon offers a bittersweet tale with a twist or two, about age, youth, the past and the art of breaking the rules.

Gholam Gholam
Drama 2017 95 mins Director: Mitra Tabrizian
An Iranian exile in London, who is haunted by his past, gets involved in the conflicts of a total stranger and has to see it through until the end, in this mesmerising slow-burn thriller.

When the Light Breaks When the Light Breaks
Drama 2024 77 mins Director: Rúnar Rúnarsson
A young woman is forced to reframe the future she’d hoped for, in Rúnar Rúnarsson’s quietly breathtaking elegy of love, loss and acceptance.

Words of War Words of War
Drama 2025 117 mins Director: James Strong
Maxine Peake leads an excellent cast in this true story of journalist Anna Politkovskaya’s fight to expose corruption and abuse in Putin’s Russia.

The Return The Return
Drama 2024 116 mins Director: Uberto Pasolini
Ralph Fiennes and Juliette Binoche are superb in this moody and poignant adaptation of the final sections of Homer's Odyssey.

E.1027 - Eileen Gray and the House by the Sea E.1027 - Eileen Gray and the House by the Sea
Drama-documentary 2024 90 mins Director: Beatrice Minger
A love triangle of jealousy in the Parisian art scene of the 1930s is brought to life in a stylish docufiction about the iconic artist and architect.