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.

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

Awards for the 2025 Sundance Film Festival were handed out on Friday morning, with the Dylan O'Brien-fronted dark comedy "Twinless" taking home the audience award in the U.S. Dramatic Competition category.

It isn’t the greatest satire ever made, but Gates’ feature is like a one-stop shop for mockery and education with some fun in between.

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.

Based on her 2020 short "Shako Mako," Hailey Gates writes and directs "Atropia," a unique war satire about western views of the Middle East. While both its lampooning of U.S. militarism and its central character drama lack follow-through,

In writer-director Hailey Gates’ directorial debut, she dives into the Bush-era culture of toxic masculinity, nationalism and Islamaphobia with an amusing and profoundly absurdist sense of satire. Set in 2006,

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

Atropia': How Callum Turner & Alia Shawkat Found A Soul Connection In Hailey Gates' War Satire - Sundance Studio

Mark E. Potts is the senior editor for video at the Los Angeles Times. A native of Enid, Okla., Potts graduated from the University of Oklahoma with a master’s degree in broadcast journalism. He has created and edited video for DreamWorks, YouTube, Microsoft, Sony and BET.

Callum Turner desperately wants to be bleeped, and Alia Shawkat's mother feared she couldn't act. Hailey Gates' new film pops.