Despite being shot in 2016, before Donald Trump’s Electoral College victory, “The Death of Stalin” was immediately hailed as a political satire with its finger on the pulse when it premiered at the 2017 Toronto International Film Festival. How could it not? Coming from Armando Iannucci, one of the great comedians of his generation, known for chronicling government in all its obscene clumsiness in the UK with “The Thick of It” and “In the Loop” and across the pond in the US with the hit TV series “Veep,” “The Death of Stalin” marked the first time the writer/director had actually made history.

Based on the French graphic novel, “La Mort de Staline,” the film is a comedic interpretation of the social and political power struggle that followed the death of Russian leader Joseph Stalin in 1953. Featuring an all-star cast including Steve Buscemi, Andrea Riseborough, Jason Isaacs, Simon Russell Beale, Rupert Friend, Michael Palin and many others, “The Death of Stalin” often plays like a horror film, following the audience and the behind-the-scenes betrayals that are immediately dished out when an opportunity presents itself.

In a recent interview with Politico’s West Wing Playbook newsletter, ahead of President Biden’s withdrawal from the 2024 race and his endorsement of Vice President Kamala Harris, Iannucci discussed the film’s newfound relevance following Biden’s debate performance and the ensuing three weeks of chaos.

“The scene I always remember is the committee scene at the end of the movie, where they’re all voting on what to do. And of course, nobody wants to be the first to raise their hand, in case they’re wrong and get shot. Everybody looks at what everybody else says before they raise their hand to vote,” Iannucci said. “And I think that’s what happens, right? Everybody thinks, ‘Yeah, he can’t last another four years.’ But nobody wants to be the first to say that. I imagine nobody wants to be the first of their closest, closest associates to actually say, ‘It’s not going to happen.'”

Iannucci may have been right, as it took weeks for Biden to come to a decision that others had immediately after his performance against Trump in late June. But with Biden’s elegant choice to step down and pass the torch to the next generation, you’re reminded of the true resonance of “The Death of Stalin,” namely that tyrants can’t enter. True leadership is egoless, for the good of the people, the kind of leadership that many believe Biden is currently demonstrating. The same cannot be said of would-be insurgent Donald Trump, whose influence, Iannucci fears, has corrupted our country as a whole.

“We made (‘The Death of Stalin’) before Trump (was sworn in). But I think what’s happened since then is that facts are now irrelevant. We’ve retreated into these camps where we only talk to people who agree with us and only get news that gives us the stories we want to hear,” Iannucci told West Wing Playbook. “We’re all now conditioned to think that what we believe is the only truth there is and that’s what every autocratic and totalitarian government has participated in. It just tells you that there is only one authentic truth, and therefore anyone who disagrees with you is unpatriotic, a traitor.”