2025 Film Viewing Diary: #18 My second feature at this year's Online Sundance Film Festival was Hailey Gates's ATROPIA. There was so much promise to this film. 1/ - ThreadSky

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joshhornbeck.bsky.social • 6 days ago

2025 Film Viewing Diary: #18

My second feature at this year's Online Sundance Film Festival was Hailey Gates's ATROPIA. There was so much promise to this film. 1/

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joshhornbeck.bsky.social•6 days ago

I love the concept and the intention behind it - exploring cities built by the US military to simulate actual overseas environments that troops may encounter, employing civilians to roleplay as the residents of these cities who live onsite 24/7. 2/

joshhornbeck.bsky.social•6 days ago

The premise is rife with satiric possibilities. And the film leads us down several tantalizing trails - the actor so committed to her craft that she takes her role in the city too seriously and is constantly looking for ways to leverage it into future work opportunities... 3/

joshhornbeck.bsky.social•6 days ago

...the absurdity inherent in the military's casting choices (any person of color could be cast as an Iraquis, any person who lost a limb could play a victim of a bombing - as long as they didn't lose their limb in combat)... 4/

joshhornbeck.bsky.social•6 days ago

...and the moral and ethical issues that arise for any of the Arab American performers who are colluding with the military so they can help the armed forces "invade their homeland more humanely." 5/

joshhornbeck.bsky.social•6 days ago

But all of these more intriguing elements take a background to the romance at the film's center and the story suffers for it. 6/

joshhornbeck.bsky.social•6 days ago

The performers are all wonderful and there are hilarious moments, but it never comes together to be the biting satire that you can see under the surface. (Watched on the Sundance Festival Portal) 7/7

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