Atropia
Follows an aspiring actress working on a U.S. military base that simulates an Iraqi war zone. (R, 104 min.)
Showtimes
Friday, January 30, 2026
(TBD)
When an aspiring actress in a military role-playing facility falls in love with a soldier cast as an insurgent, their unsimulated emotions threaten to derail the performance.
Welcome to Atropia: an invented city constructed to exercise Western imaginations and soldiers. Mostly home to war games rendered in dazzling 4D (smells included), Atropia is just close enough to Los Angeles to double as a film set — and just far enough away that the performers who live on-site to bring the bustling faux-Iraqi streets to life are not exactly flourishing in their acting careers. This mirage of a place is a bizarre, liminal construction of writer-director Hailey Gates, whose incisive satire and clever wit are on full display. Co-stars Alia Shawkat and Callum Turner are joined by Chloë Sevigny, Tim Heidecker, and more in this completely original, surprisingly romantic, and sharply amusing directorial debut. [Ash Hoyle - Sundance]
Starring: Alia Shawkat, Callum Turner, Zahra Alzubaidi, Tony Shawkat, Jane Levy, Tim Heidecker, Lola Kirke, Chloë Sevigny
Director: Hailey Gates
Genre: Comedy, Drama, War
"Hailey Benton Gates' feature directorial debut succeeds where other political satires on the 'War on Terror' have failed."
— Nicolás Delgadillo, Discussing Film
"The cast, also featuring Tim Heidecker, Chloë Sevigny and Channing Tatum, is charismatic and at times piercingly funny."
— Glenn Kenny, New York Times
"A clever and satisfying comedy that mixes elements that might never normally be in the same movie. Who knew that a movie about such a serious subject could be so funny?"
— Edward Douglas, Cinema Daily US
"Abe Friedtanzer Awards Buzz Jan 25 Fresh score. 7/10 Atropia feels like a cinematic combination of Don’t Look Up and The Men Who Stare at Goats, so clearly mocking its characters but still allowing them to believe that they’re acting in a high-stakes drama."
— Abe Friedtanzer, Awards Buzz
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