"If the phrase "military industrial complex romantic comedy" rings your bells, Hailey Gates' feature directorial debut " Atropia" just might be for you. What if we told you it's also a bit of a satire? And it's based on real events and places? And it stars Alia Shawkat and Callum Turner, whose forbidden romance really blossoms inside the confines of, well, no spoilers here, but a decidedly unsexy space?"
"first sparked by the 2019 short "Shako Mako" which, like "Atropia," was written and directed by Gates and stars Shawkat as an actress on the set of a replica foreign village used by the American military to train soldiers before they head out into the field. For "Atropia," that story was expanded out to include a romance with Turner's character, an American war vet who enjoys the play-acting in the fake country of Atropia a little too much."
Hailey Gates' feature debut Atropia blends satire with a military‑industrial‑complex romantic comedy premise and draws on real events and places. The film stars Alia Shawkat and Callum Turner whose forbidden romance develops inside a deliberately unsexy replica training environment. The project follows a 2019 short, Shako Mako, which also depicted an actress in an American military training village. Atropia expands that story to include a romance with a war veteran who embraces the play‑acting in a fake country. The Sundance premiere won the Grand Jury Prize. Gates and Shawkat view the film as divisive yet deeply appealing to its audience.
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