A young portrait photographer, Liu Jinglun (Xia Yu), chances on a newly arrived Englishman, Raymond Wallace (Jared Harris) in the capital.

Liu, a self-learner of rudimentary English, is keen on new technology and gadgets, while Raymond has brought along the latest motion picture camera and projector with some silent film shorts from the West.

Liu falls in love with Ling (Xing Yufei), the daughter of a well-respected Beijing Opera star, Lord Tan (Li Yusheng).

Liu, Raymond, Master Ren and Lord Tan are all invited to the Forbidden City to entertain the Empress Dowager Cixi during her birthday celebrations.

Raymond, fondly remembering their friendship and times in China, sends him the nitrate negatives of movies they shot together in Beijing, imploring that he should not let the work they started together die.

The film ends with the Beijing natives gradually accepting the motion picture technology, once they see how beautifully it captures the majesty of the Chinese landscape.

The website's critics consensus reads: "Charmingly sweet, Shadow Magic captures the sense of wonder of audiences experiencing the world of motion pictures for the first time.