'Atropia' Review: Military Satire Has Wit and Romance, but Not Much Else | Sundance 2025
Out of all the Sundance US Dramatic Grand Jury Prize winners of the 2020s (Minari, CODA, Nanny, A Thousand and One, In the Summers), the latest recipient, Hailey Gates’ Atropia, must be the weakest entry to date. An expanded version of a Miu Miu short that shared its similar premise, Gates' vignette-driven “satire” about a simulated Iraq used as a training ground for soldiers has its moments but is lost in its precision or timing. Unlike the aforementioned winners, Atropia is barely a movie, more of a backdoor pilot for an FX series that would have aired in 2009. In 2025, Atropia arrives as late as Connor4Real singing “Equal Rights” in 2016, with barely anything fresh to say about United States militarism and without being clear on its own identity.
Image copyright (©) Courtesy of Sundance Institute
MPA Rating: N/A
Runtime: 1 Hour and 44 Minutes
Production Companies: Frenesy Film Company, Paradise City, Ways & Means, Big Creek Projects
Distributor: N/A
Director: Hailey Gates
Writer: Hailey Gates
Cast: Alia Shawkat, Callum Turner, Chloë Sevigny, Tim Heidecker, Phil Burgers, Chloe East, Jane Levy, Gilberto Ortiz, Lola Kirke
Release Date: N/A
In 2006, Fayruz (an amazing Alia Shawkat), a persistent actress with dreams of becoming a big-shot Hollywood star, acts as an Iraqi citizen in Atropia, a simulated village in the northern desert of California. Designed by the US military to train new soldiers before they ship off to Iraq every facet of Atropia is brought to life by special effects artists who make fake bombs and blood, prop masters making plastic donkeys, and the actors cast for their light skin tone. Being an Iraqi isn't a requirement — Fayruz's co-worker Maria (Shaholly Ayers) is Mexican and can't speak Arabic to save her life — as long as their skin is light as a paper bag. Fayruz’s world is turned upside down when a US veteran, Abu Dice (Callum Turner) is brought in to train the recruits. Her insistence to be in the spotlight clashes with Dice's job. What begins as a pissing contest develops into something more.
Atropia works better as series than a movie.
Do you remember Bolt? The Disney movie about the dog who thinks he's a superhero but, unbeknownst to him, is actually the star of a television series. Atropia is similar in that everyone is aware that they are participating in a fake simulation, yet they must portray it as authentic. The film is based on Gates's Miu Miu short, Shako Mako, the Atropia prototype also starring Shawkat, which was itself largely based on the real camp to train new US soldiers in the Iraq War. Comparatively, Atropia is a confident refinement on the short and mines strong, witty humor out of poking fun both at this nation's callous imperialism and at theater people. The first half in particular is delightfully funny as it layers different shades of ineptness from the shallow actors and incompetent military staff, creating mishaps that can only come from a place as absurd as Atropia.
I was particularly impressed by the production design by Ashley Fenton and Megan Fenton, which encompasses the scope of this fake village and all its inner workings, making it seem like Disneyland for American troops who wanted to take their Call of Duty experience to the next level.
Atropia flows episodically to a point where it severely lacks any sort of momentum. However, the humor holds it together. It also benefits from a committed cast who have a few funny gags, such as Tim Heidecker and Chloë Sevigny as the typical careless military higher-ups and Jane Levy as a gassy journalist the troops have to protect. One of my favorite running jokes was Private iPod (Gilberto Ortiz), a soldier with an iPod taped to his head who is assigned to sing on command.
My praise stops at the end of the first act because the remaining acts lack coherent rhythm and character development. After Gates' initial exercise of reenacting her short on a larger scale, she loses sight of Fayruz's character and abruptly shifts the narrative to become a rom-com. The first part of the story emphasizes Fayruz's desire to be an actress. However, soon after Turner's Dice appears as an insurgent, her character and motives are completely abandoned. None of her professional or artistic aspirations are brought up. At first, it's challenging to buy into the romantic shift because Fayruz is shown as being so methodical that you can't tell where her intentions lie. Is she just trying to get laid because she's served so long in Atropia that she might as well bag a good-looking man? Is she using the idiocy of her higher-ups to her advantage to advance her future? I was patiently waiting for any sort of twist, but it never arrived.
To their credit, Shawkat and Turner have decent chemistry, sharing sensual moments that are as comedic as they are steamy (still blushing over "washing you like a dirty dish"). I never perceived Callum Turner as attractive before, but it had me writing, "Okay, Dua. I see the vision." That said, nothing about Fayruz and Dice's romantic dynamic scratches anywhere below the surface. Where it aims for heartfelt emotion, it often falls flat.
Atropia is ten years too late to make an satirical impact.
Atropia arrives a decade too late. Gates really wants to critique Bush-era foreign policy, yet many of its jokes have been done before. It is not as clever as it seems, and its bite is strongest within the first 20 minutes of the 104-minute runtime. Many gags rely on you not having seen any other comedies that poke fun at the American military, like SNL or American Dad. It felt like the film stretched its jokes far too thin, never once attempting to justify its lengthy runtime.
Final Thoughts
The abrupt transition from its comical sensibility to a sincere romance lacked fluency, and its vignette-driven nature renders Atropia a product of untapped potential.
Rating: 2.5/5
Atropia arrives a decade too late. Gates really wants to critique Bush-era foreign policy, yet many of its jokes have been done before. It is not as clever as it seems, and its bite is strongest within the first 20 minutes of the 104-minute runtime. Many gags rely on you not having seen any other comedies that poke fun at the American military, like SNL or American Dad. It felt like the film stretched its jokes far too thin, never once attempting to justify its lengthy runtime.
Final Thoughts
The abrupt transition from its comical sensibility to a sincere romance lacked fluency, and its vignette-driven nature renders Atropia a product of untapped potential.
