In the movie “Amsterdam”, Christian Bale, John David Washington and Margot Robbie play friends who reunite years later and are framed for murder.

The film from Oscar-nominated director David O. Russell, which opens in theaters on Friday, is inspired by the true story of a little-known plot to overthrow US President Franklin D. Roosevelt in the 1930s.

“It’s based on true events that are amazing,” Bale said in an interview. “The core of it is this very sincere and heartfelt choice of how to live your life in the face of evil, basically, and how to stay optimistic and joyful at all times.”

Bale and Washington play wounded World War I soldiers celebrating their post-war life in Amsterdam with their nurse, played by Margot Robbie.

The trio reunite years later after a senator's daughter, played by pop singer Taylor Swift, asks for their help in finding out who killed her father.

Their investigation eventually leads them to a retired general, played by Robert De Niro, who was based on a real-life character who uncovered the plot to overthrow Roosevelt and introduce fascism to America.

De Niro said that he believed the film had resonance in the current political climate in the United States.

“I never thought as a young man that things like the Holocaust, World War II, Hitler, Nazism, all of that, I thought it was a nightmare that would never, ever repeat itself, ever,” De Niro said. “We all know that history repeats itself, and that is something that is now repeating itself politically.”

The star-studded cast also includes Chris Rock, Anya Taylor-Joy, Rami Malek and Mike Myers.