contrived

But our associates, who are assigned to each show, adapt the teaching of the illusions to the needs of the performers, because illusions have to feel natural to not appear contrived.

Her death, largely contrived by Cromwell at the behest of his prince, bookends the 2015 adaptation and opens the 2025 sequel, creating a kind of illusion that the ten years separating them never existed.

While "Backtrack" may be somewhat contrived in its plotting, the jump scares and Brody’s moody performance remain effective.

Bryant didn’t like anything phony, anything contrived, anything that interfered with the serious business of winning a championship.

������ is astonishing is that we manage to get invested in her career, despite plotting that goes from cheekily contrived to absurd.