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 ...

Brought in for his lived knowledge of what the troops will face over there, Fayruz looks at Abu and immediately senses him as a threat to her theatric domination—it’s a real “Sam & Diane” hate-to-love ...

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.

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 ...

Alia Shawkat stars as Fayruz, an ambitious actress determined to make her big break in Hollywood while working in the simulation, despite her conflicting feelings about the war in Iraq.