Czas, który nie nadszedł / The Time That Never Came
2026, 105 min.

Awards and selections: 2026 Polish Feature Film Festival in Gdynia – Main Competition
Director: Julia Rogowska
Cast: Agata Kulesza, Dobromir Dymecki, Bartosz Bielenia, Michalina Łabacz
Country: Poland

[IN-PERSON SCREENING]

 

— Post-screening meeting with Julia Rogowska (director) and Krystyna Kantor (producer)

The future is now – and there is no room for old age, ugliness or authenticity. Do you fit in?

In a world where ageing has become the ultimate taboo, Sara and Oskar once planned to grow old together. But Oskar, like most people, submits to a revolutionary anti-ageing treatment that promises eternal youth and a place in the new society. Sara refuses, condemning herself to life in a closed isolation facility. Years later, Sara’s attempt to escape brings them together again. Their appearances have changed, but they are united by the questions they have spent years pushing aside. Can love survive time and irreversible decisions? Can you be free and live authentically in a world that denies the right to grow old?

Julia Rogowska

Graduate of psychology at SWPS University and film directing at the Warsaw Film School. She has directed short films, including “Bitter, Bitter!” (“Gorzko, gorzko!”, 2014), which received awards at the Polish Feature Film Festival in Gdynia, as well as advertising campaigns recognised with Lions at Cannes Lions. In her feature work, she combines psychological insight with genre cinema, focusing on characters pushed to the limits of endurance. “The Time That Never Came” is her feature debut.

Tags: Polish sci-fi, dystopia, youth, ageing, freedom