Michelle Monaghan has signed on to star in the indie drama Fort Bliss. Variety reports that the actress will play a veteran of the war in Afghanistan in the pic written and directed by Claudia Myers (Kettle Fish). The story centers on a soldier who is sent home from the Afghani war after a long tour. Once stateside, she struggles to reconnect with her 5-year-old son. In addition to writing and directing, Myers will also produce the $2 million film alongside Brendan McDonald and Adam Silver. Production is set to begin next June in New Mexico. It sounds like an intriguing character drama, but films centered on the Afghanistan and Iraq wars have struggled to find audiences in the past decade. I think a small drama is the way to go, and it’ll be nice to see Monaghan stretch her acting chops in such a pic.

The actress recently starred in Machine Gun Preacher, and she’s currently filming the indie Boot Tracks with Stephen Dorff. Monaghan is also poised to star in the dark comedy thriller Better Living Through Chemistry alongside Sam Rockwell and Olivia Wilde, and the thriller Penthouse North with Michael Keaton.