‘Glorious Summer’ Review – Indie Sci-Fi Tale Delivers An Impressive Directorial Debut [SXSW 2025]

An isolated palace. Resources delivered on demand. Beautiful landscapes to explore. What more could a trio of young women ask for? Writer-director duo Helena Ganjalyan and Bartosz Szpak’s debut feature Glorious Summer, which had its world premiere at the 2025 SXSW Film Festival, explores that question through the lens of high-concept science fiction. The film stars Ganjalyan alongside Magdalena Fejdasz-Hanczewska and Daniela Komędera as three young women who spend their days basking in the sun and receiving instruction from a disembodied voice guiding them in thought and action.

Right off the bat, the film begins with gorgeous shots of the palace where the girls live, showing off the exterior and surrounding lands in exquisite 16mm. The idyllic location and opening montage of the girls sunbathing and playing in the water certainly makes one wish they could be on vacation with them. It’s not long before we see that there may be trouble in paradise. You can tell there’s almost a Goldilocks and the Three Bears situation with how much each woman trusts the voices guiding them through life. Fejdasz-Hanczewska leads the charge in disapproval, with Komędera being the newest and most bought in on the teaching. 

The film starts out seeming like it has a lot to say about the widespread authoritarian control of women’s bodies. The palace is secluded, not just by winding country roads and simply being far from civilization, but by a massive wall that surrounds the entirety of the grounds. The women are indeed safe and cared for, yet there’s the pesky question of free will and autonomy that arises for them as the film goes on. None of them remember a life outside of these walls, and only know what is being taught to them: that the outside world is pure evil and dangerous with nothing good to offer them. They’ve only known the comforts of the world created for them, with the illusion of autonomy keeping them at bay until recently.

There’s a fascinating scene in the middle of the film that’s reminiscent of the “interlinked” scene from Blade Runner 2049, where the three women are in a line and either repeating or responding to the disembodied overlords in rapid succession, almost practicing for something that is never explained. This is the one time where we see our trio visibly frustrated or upset in view of the watchful eye and listening ears of those in charge. Other times, they hide or communicate via a touch language they’ve made up to speak without oversight. 

Ganjalyan and Szpak’s script is brilliant, and the story they lay out shows a great deal of restraint not often found in debut features. Mark Anthony Green’s Opus from earlier this year struggled from balancing over-explaining the point of the movie and not revealing anything at all, leaving a hollow feeling as you walk out of the theater. Glorious Summer sits slightly on the other side of the fence with an intriguing setup that is more interested in sitting in that world than it is in trying to solve it. There are crumbs of how these women find themselves in this situation and clues as to how they may get out, but the film doesn’t agonize over the lore behind the story as much as it stays within the present narrative. This shows impressive restraint from first-time writer-directors and makes the film stand above other debuts of the last few years. 

The film loses steam in the home stretch, but the first two-thirds are enthralling enough to forgive the slowdown. Fejdasz-Hanczewska gives a stand-out performance as her role shoulders most of the emotional and physical weight compared to the other girls. She possesses a certain physicality that adds to her sense of urgency to escape this perfect prison, and her frustration rises to a boiling point that gives the others a lot to work off of. 

Glorious Summer is an impressive debut feature, not without flaws, but Ganjalyan and Szpak offer an intriguing premise and solid execution that is sure to keep the audience thinking afterward. 

Glorious Summer held its World Premiere as part of the Global section of the 2025 SXSW TV & Film Festival. 

Directors: Helena Ganjalyan, Bartosz Szpak

Screenwriters: Helena Ganjalyan, Bartosz Szpak

Rated: NR

Runtime: 90m