A small military base sits between Los Angeles and Las Vegas. There, new recruits are immersed in a 24-hour live role-playing exercise complete with fake blood, fake bombs, and real people acting as Iraqi civilians and insurgents. This real place is ripe for satire, at least, that is what Hailey Gates believed when she wrote and directed Atropia. 

The political romantic comedy stars Alia Shawkat (Arrested Development, Search Party) as Fayruz, a roleplayer hellbent on pursuing her acting dream. She films auditions for “Arab” roles in her downtime, wearing a headscarf and traditional garb. She knows the language and even encourages her fellow performers to dive deeper into their characters. When it is announced that a big Hollywood star is coming to observe the town for a role, she is all too willing to compromise the integrity of the exercise, something that attracts the eye of the head insurgent roleplayer, Abu Dice (Callum Turner). 

Part love story, all-comedy, Gates follows their misadventures as they become closer and as war looms larger for all involved, showcasing other parts of the base. Jane Levy runs around as a constipated mock Fox News journalist. A soldier with an iPod taped to his helmet is forced to sing as a form of punishment. Tim Heidecker and Chloe Sevigny play two high-ranking officials who can’t be bothered to leave their tent but have no problem making life-changing decisions from their chairs. 

This is Alia Shawkat’s movie and she has never been better. She should be the lead in every film she is in. Fayruz is torn between multiple identities and Shawkat plays all of them with gentle hilarity, never passing judgment on her character. Her chemistry with Turner is off the charts and you find yourself rooting for two of the most fucked up yet endearing people in cinema history. Turner is charming and his delivery is hilarious. As a former soldier anxiously wanting to go back into combat, he still has a grounded and weary presence that only adds to the complexity of his performance.

Shawkat and Turner are the comedic heart of this film. Whereas some of Gates’ writing loses its bite in the film’s final act, she knows she can count on her leading couple to pick up the slack. Gates falls into a few first-time filmmaker traps like not knowing how to end her lead’s character arc and ending on a cliche, but there’s something fresh about her approach. From the music to the lighting, there’s always something exciting to look at. While her first feature isn’t perfect, Gate has secret weapons in Shawkat and Turner that will make Atropia a direct hit.

“Atropia” premiered at Sundance and is competing in the U.S. Dramatic Competition. It doesn’t have a release date yet.