Atropia
(2025 | USA | 103 minutes | Hailey Gates)

Set in an immersive military training facility in which soldiers role-play before being deployed into hostile territory, Atropia quickly begins to feel like an inadvertent tribute to the Iraq War it aims to satirize. Inside the far flung compound, endangered desert tortoises are the highest priority, out of touch bureaucrats blow through the catering budget with airlifted sushi, and out-of-work actors portray civilians of the war-torn country of the week. Hollywood-quality special effects — from robotic victims to the exploding donkeys who threaten their limbs — are meant to make the whole thing an immersive last stop before underprepared young cadets face the real thing.

With Alia Shawkat as an aspiring actress who hopes her devotion to the craft will help her stand out and catch the eye of a Hollywood producer and Callum Turner as returning soldier whose experience in the field has him acting as the facility’s chief insurgent, the film doesn’t fall entirely flat. There are some clever barbs, but after settling in to the parodic concept and meeting its array of sterotypes, the high notes and laughs come too rarely to justify the growing incoherence and fragmented point of view.

While the Saunders-esque premise is fertile for cutting commentary, it becomes quickly evident that it has no idea what it’s doing or why it’s there. Still, stocked with a talented and appealing cast, you can feel the film’s so invested in saying something that it keeps throwing warm bodies into the fire hoping something works (or at least justifies the budget). By the end, though, it all gets lost in the fog of war.

Atropia played as an official selection of the US Dramatic Competition at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival. It has additional screenings in Park City and Salt Lake City throughout the festival and is Also available online for the public (January 30–February 2).