Sundance Review: ‘Atropia’ is a Shrewdly Funny Send-Up of American Imperialism
The image of a war-torn desert landscape devastated by conflict has unfortunately become so ingrained in people’s minds that it’s often impossible to distinguish where a particular picture was taken. It shouldn’t come as a surprise, therefore, that part of the preparation for sending soldiers overseas to foreign countries for military operations often includes a simulated village in which actors play locals and potential targets. Atropia spotlights the real-life phenomenon of these invented cities with a decidedly sarcastic approach, focusing on the role players who get far into their character work.
Fayruz (Alia Shawkat) enjoys the theatrical nature of working in the military village of Atropia, energetically shouting “Death to America!” whenever the script calls for it. The Iraqi native spends her free time filming acting reels that she hopes to be able to pass along to the big-name actor who’s coming to the latest training simulation to help learn more about military life. As the new army recruits also arrive, Fayruz finds herself distracted by Abu Dice (Callum Turner), whose casting as the top terrorist only makes him more attractive to her.
This is the feature directorial debut of Hailey Gates, who creates something that feels authentically grounded in the recent past (2006, to be exact) and is self-reflective in a fantastically subtle way. The typical military dehumanization boot camp mentality still exists, but with some humorous flourishes, like the nickname “Private iPod,” assigned to a soldier who didn’t hand in his electronics and now has to start singing a different song any time he’s called on by his commanding officer. The training exercises are fueled by excess, yet the job is to take them seriously since bigger mistakes are better made at home rather than out in the real world where there are consequences.
Shawkat, who just recently spent time in Afghanistan on FX’s The Old Man, keeps the clothes but sheds all that dramatic casing for a role that takes her back to her offbeat roots in Arrested Development and Search Party. Fayruz is a chaos agent who knows exactly what she’s doing, well aware of her goals and how she wants to make sure that she stays ahead of anyone else. This part has her name on it, and she’s well-paired with Turner, who adds comic dimension to the buff, confident soldier archetype. Chloë Sevigny, Tim Heidecker, Jane Levy, and Chloe East appear in entertaining supporting roles, though they certainly could have been featured more extensively, particularly East, whose one-scene appearance more than conveys her recognizable talent.
There will surely be audiences who don’t appreciate the light-hearted take this film offers on a lengthy war that many have deemed unnecessary and resulted in the deaths of many people. Gates smartly embeds some of that reasoning in the film’s dumbest character, whose ability to ask the right questions is stifled by Fayruz’s desire to return to what she believes to be important and doesn’t actually hold a candle to the life-and-death nature of what those around her are about to do. This is a political statement made through humor with some serious food for thought embedded within it, and it’s much more about how people are ultimately self-serving and only looking out for themselves, no matter where they may be in the world.
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. The 2000s period details enhance the experience, and this film manages to mostly stay on a stable course without getting distracted by too many unnecessary tangents. That a film like this doesn’t feel like a relic of the past is perhaps the weightiest takeaway, but, regardless of what they’re thinking after they watch it, audiences should have plenty of fun experiencing it.
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