The philosopher C Thi Nguyen talks about how one of the attractions of gaming is "value clarity": whereas IRL values are complex, subtle, nuanced, trying to balance many competing priorities etc, in-game values are simple and clear: rack up points, accumulate resources, win the game. Morality is out the window, so is "the good life," so is ideology. Everything streamlines; you get tunnel vision; the world becomes a massive instrument to one end.
I think this is part of the appeal of The Prestige, too, and any work that deals with single-mindedness and obsession. Part of the pleasure we get, tracking the plot, living vicariously through characters, is their value clarity and utter devotion—here to being the best performer in London. The rest comes second, which means we can easily keep score, understand motivations, translate goal into behavior, like a classic “guy wants girl” rom com. Everything is instrumental to a single ends. “How long will you be staying?” “As long as it takes.”