Weaving absurdism and romance, “Atropia” interrogates the Western perspective of the Middle East.

Directed by Hailey Gates, the war satire film premiered at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival. The story centers around Fayruz (Alia Shawkat), an aspiring actress who works at the titular military simulation. She later falls in love with Abu Dice (Callum Turner), a soldier playing a rebel, and their romance threatens to destroy the facade of Atropia. Gates said the movie was initially conceptualized as a documentary about the fake Iraqi villages built on United States military bases after 9/11. However, she later decided to rework it as a satirical film critiquing U.S. involvement in the Iraq War.

Turner and fellow actors Chloe East, Gilberto Ortiz and Dash Melrose, alongside executive producers David Siegel and Mike Spreter, spoke to the Daily Bruin’s Sanjana Chadive about the characterization and use of satire in “Atropia.”

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Daily Bruin: Abu and Fayruz have a forbidden attraction in the film. How did you and Alia go about portraying that dynamic on screen?

Callum Turner: She (Alia) is an incredible actress. We were cast and tried to get as specific as possible before we were on set. (We) then let loose once we were there. I’ve known her for 10 years. I felt incredibly comfortable. She was eight months pregnant when we made the movie. She’s a star. She’s a trooper and led everyone brilliantly. It was great.

DB: What drew you to Gates’ script?

Dash Melrose: It was really just an incredible script. As an actor, you’re always trying to look for work. I’m always just trying to find the project. When it came to me, I read the script. It was an incredible script. It’s one of those things as an actor, where you’re like, “Fingers crossed, hope I book it.” I tried my best, and ultimately I booked it. But there’s just so many precious moments in the script, and it’s compiled with uncertainty and comedy.

Gilberto Ortiz: It was phenomenal. I went back immediately to the first page because I couldn’t believe what I was reading. I was like, “Wait, wait.” Immediately, I knew the type of movie I was gonna be getting into. Then just page after page, it just kept getting better. The jokes were so smart and sharp. Overall, it was just such a great read, and I couldn’t put it down. I knew I really wanted to be a part of it. Getting booked, I think, was such an honor. I was just excited to work with such a great group of people.

David Siegel: It’s an unusual story set in a particular moment in American history, looking at a particular beginning of something – or in the middle, I should say. It reflects interestingly on our time, but it’s also hilarious, and the relationship development is really great. She had a great cast attached to it already when we started talking to her. For us, it was very clear and easy.

Mike Spreter: I think we’re drawn to movies that take place in a very well-developed world and in a place you can really feel the texture of the script. This really just explores a situation that we had never known before. This movie is really going to take people by surprise, bring them some place that they never expected.

DB: How does “Atropia” use humor to convey its more serious themes?

Chloe East: Life is humorous. I think there’s comedy in everything. I think you can’t have a full blown drama or tell a story without some humor. But this is the device to the narrative forward. It really is just such a silly dynamic, and there’s so much possibility within the story. It really leads into the humorous side of these two characters who fall in love in this real, but not real, scenario. It’s really fun. The whole movie is super silly and super fun.

DM: War, trauma and trying to find yourself are incredibly heavy topics. The truth is, the movie has comedy, but it’s really more of a serious movie. Going through the movie, you’re figuring out a lot about life and these characters, and it’s sort of covered by this comedy. But underneath it, it’s this really real and true thing. So I think it makes it more digestible, too, for a bigger audience.

GO: There’s a lot of really difficult moments in life, and it’s hard to find the humor in those things. But the humor is what helps get us through a lot of it. I think that Hailey (Gates) did a really great job of being able to pinpoint a lot of really tough moments in the movie and also being able to make it with the humor and the jokes and pushing it forward.