AMSTERDAM

*CUT TO THE CHASE*

NOTE: This spoiler was submitted by Jeremy

New York City, 1933 – Burt Berendsen (Christian Bale) works as an unlicensed surgeon and physician who fixes up wounds suffered by vets from WWI. He wears a glass eye as a result of his own injury while serving in France.

After work, Burt meets his best friend and fellow veteran, Harold Woodsman (John David Washington), at a morgue. They are a woman named Elizabeth “Liz” Meekins (Taylor Swift), whose father, Bill (Ed Begley, Jr), was the men’s former commander. Along with another veteran, Milton King (Chris Rock), the group gathers around Bill’s corpse in a box, as Liz wants Burt to perform the autopsy. Liz also believes her father was murdered. The men then attempt to discreetly move Bill’s body out of there.

The men meet with medical examiner Irma St. Clair (Zoe Saldana), to whom Burt is attracted. They perform the autopsy on Bill together and discover a strange fluid in his organs, leading them to think that Bill was poisoned.

Burt and Harold go to a restaurant to meet Liz as she had asked them, but they spot her trying to sneak out. The two follow and catch up to her to try and tell her about the poison in her father’s body. Liz appears nervous and tries to tell the men that she thinks Bill saw something he shouldn’t have seen, at which point an assassin, Tarim Millfax (Timothy Olyphant), pushes Liz in front of a car that runs her over. Millfax yells to the crowd that Burt and Harold pushed her, prompting them to make a run for it and hop on a bus to get away.

Burt then takes the story back to 1918, when he was urged by his wife Beatrice Vandenheuvel (Andrea Riseborough) and her affluent family to enlist in the war, making him think that it will be good for his image. Burt goes to France, where he meets Harold and Milton, along with Bill, who the men viewed as a good commander.

Burt and Harold endure injuries, with Burt losing his eye. The two meet a nurse, Valerie (Margot Robbie), who tends to them and appears to take a mutual liking to Harold. They incite a small riot in the hospital, and she becomes good friends with Burt and Harold. Valerie tells the men how she uses the shrapnel pulled from soldiers in her art.

The trio makes plans to head to Amsterdam. Valerie introduces the men to Paul Canterbury (Mike Myers), and Henry Norcross (Michael Shannon), two men who work together to manufacture and sell glass eyes (including the one Burt will use) and are, respectively, MI6 and US Naval Intelligence agents. The three then find a crummy apartment to live in and spend their time drinking and having fun as friends while also working to help other vets. However, Burt decides he wants to go back to New York to be with Beatrice, despite Harold and Valerie’s protests.

When Burt returns home, Beatrice’s father blacklists him from the medical field due to practicing with his injury, and he also orders her to stay away from Beatrice. Thus, Burt begins practicing illegally and also takes his own medication for the pain from his injuries. Meanwhile, back in Amsterdam, Harold and Valerie have to split up since Harold wants to continue helping vets, and they also know their interracial relationship would be frowned upon back in the States.

In the present, Burt and Harold hide in Beatrice’s home. She and Burt talk about their failed relationship until Harold mentions that he heard Liz mention a “Mr. Rose” before she was killed. Beatrice corrects him and says she must have said “Voze,” as the Voze family are wealthy and influential, and may have had a connection to the Meekins family. The three are then visited by Detectives Hiltz (Alessandro Nivola) and Getwiller (Matthias Schoenaerts), who are investigating Liz’s murder and suspect Burt and Harold after they were pointed out. Burt convinces the detectives to get off their backs by suggesting they can speak to the Voze family for a lead into what happened to Bill. On their way out of the house, they see Millfax drive by them with his accomplice and threaten them by mentioning “The Committee of the Five.”

Burt and Harold score a meeting with Tom Voze (Rami Malek). They meet his neurotic wife Libby (Anya Taylor-Joy) and then learn that Valerie is Tom’s sister, as she sees the men again for the first time in 15 years. Valerie also appears to be suffering from a genetic nerve disease. She privately speaks to Burt and Harold regarding the truth about her background. Tom later arrives and meets the men, who suggest that they speak to General Gil Dillenbeck (Robert De Niro) to vouch for them, as he was close to Bill and can tell who was traveling with him that might be connected to his murder.

While waiting to contact Dillenbeck, Burt is visited by Getwiller and Hiltz, with the former needing medical attention for his own war wound. Burt is then met by Irma, who was attacked and had her arm broken by men who took Bill’s autopsy reports from her. Burt sets her arm back into place, and they share a kiss. Beatrice then shows up to talk to Burt about the ongoing situation, suggesting her father can get Burt his medical license back. Irma then tells the detectives about the contents of the autopsy reports. She guides Burt to an office where he meets with Valerie, Harold, and Milton.

The trio goes to a hotel to meet with Paul and Henry. Valerie and Harold show them and Burt that they saw Millfax and followed him to a shady clinic where people were being forcibly sterilized. They got into a physical confrontation with Millfax and another man before learning about The Committee of the Five. Paul suggests that this clinic is tied to a cabal that supports other clinics like this in Germany, with plans for world domination. Henry then tells the trio to get Dillenbeck to be a guest speaker at an upcoming gala to help bring down this organization.

The trio then go to Dillenbeck’s house to speak with him. He tells them that he was in contact with Bill before his death when Bill told Dillenbeck that he had witnessed something horrific. Dillenbeck also says he has been receiving money from a mysterious benefactor from the Committee of the Five to try and get him on their side. Burt asks Dillenbeck to speak at the gala to try and weed the bad guys out. The benefactor, Maguire (Christopher Gehrman), arrives and asks Dillenbeck to join their cause, as they wish to remove Franklin D. Roosevelt from his presidency and take over themselves. Dillenbeck then agrees to be a speaker at the gala.

The trio introduces Dillenbeck to Tom and Libby, the latter of who is not-so-secretly enamored with him. Tom helps get Burt and Harold off the hook with the cops.

On the night of the gala, Dillenbeck meets several men associated with the Committee of the Five and gives him a speech they want him to read. Beatrice and her family show up hoping to meet Dillenbeck, but Burt decides to cut ties with them for good. When Dillenbeck goes up to speak, he uses his own speech. Millfax attempts to assassinate him, but Valerie and Harold spot him and knock him off a ledge onto the stage, where he is promptly arrested.

The trio meets with the detectives in a private room, along with Tom and Libby, as it is revealed that Tom is among the leaders of the Committee of the Five, and that they are obsessed with fascist dictators such as Mussolini and Hitler and their ultimate goal is to turn the United States into a fascist country. Bill was murdered for working against them. It is also revealed that Tom had been tampering with Valerie’s medication to make her suffer from the nerve disease. Valerie fantasizes about shooting Tom and Libby in the face, but they are taken away by the police.

Burt narrates that Tom and the rest of the Committee were arrested but not for long, and they faced no further punishment for their actions while continuing to slander Dillenbeck. The general testifies against them to Congress and returns home to live in peace. Harold and Valerie flee the country so they can continue their relationship without scrutiny. Burt then pursues a relationship with Irma. His final words muse on love, the kind Valerie and Harold have, and the love he has for them as his friends.

In 1933, WWI vets and friends Burt Berendsen and Harold Woodsman are caught up in a conspiracy after their former commander, Bill Meekins, as well as his daughter Liz, are murdered by a mysterious organization. They team up with an old friend and Harold's former flame Valerie Voze, whose family is wealthy and influential.

The trio discovers that the organization is called The Committee of the Five, which wants to turn the United States into a fascist country. The Committee attempts to recruit General Gil Dillenbeck, who was friends with Bill, but he goes against them as well and works with Burt, Harold, and Valerie. The assassin who killed Bill and Liz goes after Dillenbeck when it's clear he's not working with them, but Harold and Valerie stop him. Valerie's brother Tom is exposed as one of the leaders of the Committee, but he is only temporarily taken into custody before the group disbands.

Harold and Valerie leave the country to continue their relationship while Burt begins a relationship with his colleague Irma.