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Atropia , starring Alia Shawkat and Callum Turner, is in theaters now, and PEOPLE has an exclusive clip

From writer-director Hailey Benton Gates, it follows a group of performers in a town designed as a warfare simulation to prepare U.S. soldiers

“To play an Iraqi struggling actress is right up my alley,” Shawkat says

Alia Shawkat is going to war — sort of — in her timely new comedy.

Atropia , from writer-director Hailey Benton Gates, stars Shawkat, 36, as Fayruz, an actress in the titular nation — except it’s not a real nation. Atropia is an immersive warfare simulation in the California desert designed to train U.S. soldiers before deployment.

When Shawkat’s Fayruz falls in love with Callum Turner ’s veteran-turned-performer Abu Dice, according to a synopsis, “

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