Reminiscent of “The Truman Show,” “Atropia” is an immersive comedy showcasing the back of sets, control panels and 2000s-era ugly green screens. It’s full of veterans, military personnel, new soldiers ...

More a forced, one-note farce than the sharp satire it’s trying to be, “Atropia” is almost impressive in how it manages to allude to so many complicated subjects surrounding U.S. militarism ...

Atropia, Hailey Gates ’ scattered debut feature, is based on a city invented by the American military to train cadets. That the United States erects role-playing facilities tasked with ...

Like Gates’ short, “Atropia” opens with a near-identical scene of an Iraqi woman played by Alia Shawkat, witnessing U.S. troops rolling through her hometown in pursuit of a suspect right as ...

"Atropia" follows an aspiring actress at a military role-playing facility who falls for a soldier cast as an insurgent, their genuine emotions threatening to derail the performance. Shot at a ...

In Atropia, Gates, who also wrote the screenplay, includes a hampering romantic thread between our aspiring actress and a soldier cast as an Atropian insurgent (Callum Turner). Their love story ...

Set in 2006, Atropia takes place at the titular U.S. military training ground in the California desert, where actors role-play as villagers in countries where the government plans to invade.

Dir. Hailey Gates — 4.5 Stars A still from "Atropia" by Hailey Gates, an official selection of the 2025 Sundance Film Festival. By Courtesy of Sundance Institute ...

Atropia showcases how everyone is selling their souls in different ways. Though Fayruz waxes poetic about how what she’s doing is noble and going to save lies, it’s clear that she doesn’t ...