This fascinating and richly intricate original crime epic brilliantly weaves historical fact with fiction for a timely, cinematic experience. In the 1930s, three friends witness a murder, are framed for it, and uncover one of the most shocking secret plots in American history. Amsterdam’s all star cast includes Academy Award winners and nominees Christian Bale, Margot Robbie, Rami Malek, Robert De Niro in addition to John David Washington, Alessandro Nivola, Andrea Riseborough, Anya Taylor-Joy, Chris Rock, Matthias Schoenaerts, Michael Shannon, Mike Myers, Taylor Swift and Zoe Saldaña.
The film was inspired by the Business Plot, a 1933 political conspiracy in which wealthy American businessmen and bankers plotted a military coup d'état to overthrow President FDR and replace him with a fascist veterans' organization headed by U.S. Marine Corps Major General Smedley Butler. The plot was revealed in a testimony under oath to the U.S. House of Representatives' Special Committee on Un-American Activities in 1934. The committee concluded that a plot was indeed concocted, but none of the plotters were prosecuted.