ATROPIA Trailer: Alia Shawkat & Callum Turner Start a Simulated War Zone Fling in Sundance Grand Jury Prize Winner

Alia Shawkat is an aspiring actress honing her craft in a very unlikely setting: Atropia! Model, journalist, and actress Hailey Benton Gates wrote and directed the dark comedy that took home the Sundance U.S. Dramatic Grand Jury Prize at this year’s festival. Shawkat stars as struggling actress Fayruz, doing roleplay as an Iraqi villager on a U.S. military base that simulates an Iraqi war zone. Callum Turner also stars as a soldier back from combat whom she starts to fall for. The Luca Guadagnino-produced film also stars Chloë Sevigny, Tim Heidecker, Jane Levy, Jamie McShane, Zahra Alzubaidi, Tony Shawkat, and Lola Kirke. Ahead of its December 12 theatrical release, Vertical Entertainment has now unveiled the official trailer.

As the official synopsis reads:

Welcome to Atropia: a fake nation created by the U.S. military to train soldiers before their deployment. These simulated towns—built by Hollywood set designers—are brought to life by roleplayers hired to create a sense of “authenticity.” When an aspiring actress (Alia Shawkat) in a military role-playing facility falls in love with a soldier (Callum Turner) cast as an insurgent, their unsimulated emotions threaten to derail the performance. What unfolds is an audaciously funny satire that asks: In the performance of war, who are the winners and who are the losers?

Watch the official trailer for Atropia below.

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