Atropia
Vertical | Release Date: December 12, 2025 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
53
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 14 Critic Reviews
Positive:
2
Mixed:
12
Negative:
0

Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
83
The PlaylistMarshall ShafferFeb 5, 2025
Trying to clarify the fog of war is a patently paradoxical task, Gates successfully argues – and she can prove the assertion within the grand satirical framework of the script or in a wry comic detail derived from the immediacy of a scene. Read full review
63
RogerEbert.comClint WorthingtonDec 12, 2025
At the end of the day, “Atropia” feels like Gates gesturing vaguely at a few really interesting notions about the military-entertainment complex, and how it can bleed through into the people waging the actual war. Read full review
60
The New York TimesGlenn KennyDec 11, 2025
The movie, written and directed by Hailey Benton 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. Read full review
60
Next Best PictureAlex PapaioannouNov 6, 2025
Hailey Gates shows a lot of exciting promise behind the camera. Read full review
60
Screen DailyAllan HunterFeb 5, 2025
Hailey Gates’ ambitious debut feature Atropia is full of comic potential that is never quite realised. The mixture of war games satire, deadpan farce and sweet romance provides amusement along the way without cutting as deep as it sometimes promises. Read full review
60
ColliderTaylor GatesJan 31, 2025
Though the themes in Atropia are more subtle than one might hope and expect from a war satire, and the film could benefit from more focus, Hailey Gates successfully draws intriguing parallels between war and the entertainment industry that will have you looking at both in a whole new light. Read full review
60
VarietySiddhant AdlakhaJan 30, 2025
While both its lampooning of U.S. militarism and its central character drama lack follow-through, the film contains bright comedic sparks in its keen observations about American media. Read full review
60
Screen RantPatrice WitherspoonJan 30, 2025
Not everything works and the humor tends to run its course, but Gates puts a solid effort together given the limitations. Read full review
58
The A.V. ClubNatalia KeoganDec 11, 2025
Without a tangible connection to the material—most notably to Iraq and its people—Gates’ viewpoint feels unguided, doomed to be influenced by the same pervasive prejudices that Atropia ostensibly attempts to combat. Read full review
58
The Film StageJake Kring-SchreifelsFeb 5, 2025
As the movie’s romantic arc unfolds, everything just feels a little too goofy and distracted, considering the earnest monologue that Fayruz gives near the end that questions why so many young men and women are dying for causes they don’t understand. Read full review
50
The Hollywood ReporterLovia GyarkyeJan 30, 2025
Gates offers an incredibly compelling premise, shedding light on the scale of military propaganda in the United States, but in taking on so much, her film ends up not saying enough. Read full review
50
IndieWireDavid EhrlichJan 30, 2025
Gates only pokes fun at how America casts itself until she gets distracted by a cinematic fantasy of her own. Read full review
40
TheWrapChase HutchinsonJan 30, 2025
More a forced, one-note farce than the sharp satire it’s trying to be, Atropia is almost impressive in how it manages to allude to so many complicated subjects surrounding U.S. militarism without authentically skewering or even poking at any of them. Read full review
40
The GuardianBenjamin LeeJan 30, 2025
The aimless and unfunny shenanigans of Atropia never really lead to anything and they certainly don’t lead us anywhere that demands the sudden level of dramatic seriousness that the ending brings about. Read full review
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