If you’re looking for a movie to rent at the Redbox, one of the most recent titles available for your next Friday night at home is the film ‘Now You See Me,’ which features actors and actresses such as Woody Harrelson, Isla Fisher, Morgan Freeman, and Michael Caine. Throughout the film, there are several blatant references to the Illuminati, secret societies, and initiation rituals. You are also bombarded with one very specific piece of symbolism that plays an important part in the storyline of the film…
On the surface, ‘Now You See Me’ is a film about four magicians that join forces to what viewers believe is to pull off a large bank heist and complete a series of tasks with the promise that they may become a member of an elite organization of magicians. The candidates have all been chosen to participate in a sort of ‘initiation process’ based upon certain skills they possess that come through in their own magic acts.
Henley Reeves (played by Isla Fisher) is an escape artist, while J. Daniel Atlas (played by Jesse Eisenberg) is a master illusionist. Merritt McKinney (played by Woody Harrelson) displays powers of a mentalist, while Jack Wilder’s (played by Dave Franco) illusions are created by a sleight-of-hand. Together, they become known as the Four Horsemen.
All four magicians receive an individual invitation to participate in the plans of a group known as ‘the Eye’ – an elite organization that magicians supposedly aspire to belong to. Each invitation is a tarot card that represents the magician in some way. Reeves gets the High Priestess card, Atlas is given the Lovers card, McKinney gets the Hermit card, and the Death card is dealt to Wilder, which eventually plays a role later on in the film – he is essentially a ‘sacrifice.’ Every card has a symbol of an all-seeing eye. 
The all-seeing eye figures into the movie quite a bit, and the tarot cards aren’t the only time we’ll come in contact with it. One of the stages that the magicians perform on is in the shape of a giant eye, and in one scene, we encounter a scale model of it. A scene that depicts Times Square shows the ‘eye’ appearing on an electronic billboard. A sketch of the Eye of Horus is revealed in the notebook of the Interpol agent sent to help track down the Four Horsemen.
The symbolic ‘eye’ in the movie also greatly resembles the same Eye of Horus of the ancient Egyptians that has a connection to secret society groups, such as the Illuminati, the Freemasons, and the occult. One of the books that the Interpol agent is reading to learn more about the Four Horsemen and the ‘Eye’ is titled ‘The Guardians of Horus.’ ‘Now You See Me’ deliberately makes references to the all-seeing eye symbolism and its connection to the ancient Egyptians and Horus.
As you watch the movie, we see the magicians blindly following the orders of an unseen puppeteer with the hopes of unlocking something bigger and more magical. However, in the end, despite their obedience to ‘the Eye’ and the successful completion of their initiation process, we learn that the magicians have simply been puppets all along in a grand scheme that doesn’t truly entitle them to gain access to an elite group. To uncover this information, you will have had to watch further after the credits had rolled.
Just as the entertainment industry is suspected of using influential people, such as rappers and singers, to do their bidding, this movie reflects how powerful groups can use others to ‘do their dirty work’ without coming into the open, and sometimes, never truly repaying the loyalty of the used.