"Atropia," a satire of the Iraq War and military contractors' efforts to prepare soldiers to fight overseas, was one of the big winners at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival's awards ceremony.

There’s an inherent farce to the U.S. government, or so Hailey Gates suggests in her debut feature film, Atropia. Based on her 2019 short film Shako Mako, Gates expands her exploration of fake towns established by the American military for training purposes and the actors cast as townspeople — and potential terrorists — in those training scenarios.

Hailey Gates turned her Miu Miu "Women's Tales" short film into a Sundance feature, starring Alia Shawkat and Callum Turner.

Hailey Gates’ “Atropia” and Brittany Shyne’s “Seeds” claimed the top jury awards at Sundance, along with audience favorites "Twinless,” “DJ Ahmet” and “Prime Minister.”

The winners of the 2025 Sundance Film Festival include Dylan O'Brien's 'Twinless,' the comedy 'Atropia' and the documentary 'Seeds.'

The war satire “Atropia” about actors in a military role-playing facility won the grand jury prize in the Sundance Film Festival’s U.S. dramatic competition, while the Dylan O’Brien movie “Twinless” got the coveted audience award.

A documentary deconstructs the true crime genre, an obsessive worms his way into a pop star's entourage, and more standouts from Sundance 2025.

"Atropia," starring Alia Shawkat, premiered at Sundance 2025. The dark satire of military simulation camps made for comedic gold.

Like many of the independent films that premiered at this muted edition of Sundance, “Atropia” has not yet sold to a distributor.

Refresh for more…As the Sundance Film Festival heads into its final weekend, the Park City, UT cinematic event is handling out trophies this AM to this year’s best. Keep refreshing to see who wins, and scroll down.

Sundance: Directed by "Challengers" actress Hailey Gates, "Atropia" gives the War on Terror it's own take on "The Truman Show."

An aspiring actress in an army role-playing facility falls in love with a soldier in Hailey Gates' feature debut, which also stars Callum Turner and Chloë Sevigny.