SUNDANCE: ‘Atropia’ Can’t Marry Comedy With Irony

Atropia (2025) is a different kind of military movie, for better and worse. Written and directed by Hailey Gates, the movie comes out swinging with a whimsical score and a ridiculous instructional video that instantly declare this movie is a comedy and a farce and that none of the jingoism should be taken seriously whatsoever. However, the subtle, deadpan approach to humor and irony gets muddled. It’s great at pointing out how ridiculous being an actor can be, but the commentary on American imperialism and warmongering feels disconnected.

Atropia is a fake city built in the Californian desert by the U.S. military to train soldiers for war in a fully simulated environment. During the height of the American invasion of Iraq, Feyruz (Alia Shawkat) is one of a few hundred aspiring actors who work at the facility helping roleplay full-scale 24/7 military operations. There’s fake blood, real explosions, and, at least for Feyruz, loads of theater camp-like ego and sexual tension.

Part of the fun of Atropia is that it’s hard to tell where real life ends and the scenario begins. Feyruz spends a lot of time wiggling her way into the heat of the training scenarios to try and show off her acting chops, so when she gives a seemingly heartfelt speech here or there about, say, why she helps run these simulations despite being Iraqi, is she being sincere, or is she giving a dramatic monologue?

Because the scenario is live 24/7, action can occur at any hour of the day. However, it’s still a scenario, and most of the people involved are underpaid civilians, so they break character a lot. Atropia has fun bouncing between campy action scenes meant to demonstrate how ridiculous this training simulation is and slapstick action scenes that call out how horrific real war is.

None of that is novel amongst the canon of anti-war movies, but Atropia definitely deserves credit for taking a unique approach. Yet, the movie is still too simple, holding it back from making a remarkable statement about war. It’s swings at the evils of imperialism are broad. It’s not going to convince anybody who has never thought twice about the utility or morality of war to think twice. And setting it during the invasion of Iraq strangely outdated the movie.

Atropia can’t quite blend its comedy with its irony, resulting in an entertaining movie with a muddled message.

A running joke about iPods keeps the movie clearly planted in the early 2000s during a military operation that ended over a decade ago. Yet little else about the movie feels like it’s speaking specifically to that place and time in American history. In making the movie so specifically about the real-life invasion of Iraq, Atropia loses much of its connection to modern reality. After the first few acts and until the final moments, it stops feeling like a critique on war as the theater camp of it all takes over.

Feyruz is the perfect stereotype of a try-hard actor. Not only does she constantly mess up scenarios because she’s going too hard, she also can’t help but have a thing with one of the other actors. Going only by his slightly ridiculous character name, Abu Dice (Callum Turner), this odd couple forms through a classic theater camp enemies-to-lovers scenario. Their relationship and characters have depth. They talk about real things, like life, family, and the politics of the invasion. They’re in full-on “camp-goggles” mode very quickly, and it’s hot, and it’s entertaining.

It’s just at odds with what else Atropia is trying to say. The movie doesn’t quite balance the fun of their relationship and the dry humor of the overall tone with a clear message about why everything happening at this training facility is abhorrent. Which the movie clearly believes is true, given the final text on-screen right before the credits roll. The movie pokes fun at the military fairly well, but it doesn’t fully envelop its own ideals. A huge and ingenious cameo early on sets the stage for what seems like it’s going to be a brutal takedown of war films and jingoism. Instead, the character disappears faster than he was set up and everything he represents evaporates with him.

Atropia is a smart idea for a movie with a fun execution and interesting characters. But ultimately, it’s too torn between its dueling comedic and satiric aspects to succeed fully at either. Those who know war is bad will enjoy watching what unfolds here, but the uninitiated will not walk away having learned any of the movie’s potential lessons.

Atropia premiered as a part of the 2025 Sundance Film Festival. It was the winner of 2025 U.S. Dramatic Competition.