©Courtesy of Vertical
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 role players 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?
Hailey Benton Gates is a filmmaker and journalist based in New York City. She received her BFA from NYU in Experimental Theater and Playwriting and is an advisory editor at the literary magazine, The Paris Review. For two seasons she was the host and producer of the award-winning docuseries States of Undress for Vice TV, which saw Gates travel the globe, often to conflict zones, to explore the intersection of fashion, politics, and women’s rights.
Her award-winning short film, Shako Mako, starring Alia Shawkat premiered at the 2019 Venice Film Festival in partnership with Miu Miu, and her directorial debut ATROPIA won the Sundance Grand Jury Prize in 2025.
Her commercial work as a director includes films for Vogue and New York Magazine. As an actress, Hailey has appeared in David Lynch’s acclaimed reboot, Twin Peaks: The Return, the Safdie Brothers’ Uncut Gems, Luca Guadagnino’s Challengers and the upcoming films: The Moment from Charli xcx and Josh Safdie’s Marty Supreme.