In the new satire “Atropia,” U.S. troops bound for Iraq first ship out to a “24/7 warfare simulation” near Barstow, Calif., in order to role-play the types of people they may encounter in the war.
The setting has been designed to match the Iraqi landscape, but there’s one stipulation at the beginning: The fighters have to take care not to run over or shoot any of the desert tortoises that are native to the region. This is perhaps the first time that a reptile has served the dramatic function of Chekhov’s gun.
The subject matter would appear to have a particular resonance for its star, the veteran comedic actress Alia Shawkat (“Arrested Development,” “Search Party”). Her father, Tony, who has a small role in the film, is from Baghdad. Here she plays Fayruz, an actor playing a beleaguered civilian in the fictional stand-in for Iraq, which is called Atropia.
As aspiring thespians tend to do, Fayruz digs deep into the role, but she is soon distracted by Callum Turner, an American soldier who’s playing the role of an insurgent. The pair find themselves going off script with avid … let’s call it thirst. “I didn’t realize my fetish was interrogation,” Turner’s character remarks at one point.
The movie, written and directed by Hailey Gates, wants to be a lot of things at once, including a satire and a dark rom-com. It bites off more than it can comfortably chew. However, the cast, also featuring Tim Heidecker, Chloë Sevigny and Channing Tatum, is charismatic and at times piercingly funny.
Atropia Not rated. Running time: 1 hour 44 minutes. In theaters.
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