The Chronology of Water

Kristen Stewart: The Chronology of Water (US/FR/LV 2025). Lidia Yuknavitch (Imogen Poots).

United States, France, Latvia 2025

Director: Kristen Stewart

Screenplay: Kristen Stewart & Andy Mingo - based on the memoirs (2011) of Lidia Yuknavitch

Starring: Imogen Poots, Tom Sturridge, Thora Birch, Jim Belushi

Language: English

127 min

    Distributor: Les Films du Losange

    Festival premiere: 16 May 2025 Cannes - Un certain regard

    Love & Anarchy 38th Helsinki International Film Festival (HIFF)

    Viewed at Kinopalatsi 1, Helsinki, Fri 26.9.2025 at 21.00–23.07 

Rauli Karjalainen (HIFF 2025): "Kristen Stewart’s directorial debut is a fierce and ambitious portrayal of how trauma can ultimately be transformed into art."

"Actor Kristen Stewart’s fierce directorial debut The Chronology of Water is based on American writer Lidia Yuknavitch’s bestselling autobiography of the same name, published in 2011. It’s a fragmented and heavily stylised film that tells the story of an abused competitive swimmer, who goes from having a drug problem into being a successful writer and a mother."

"Imogen Poots throws herself into her raw performance as Lidia, whose life is haunted by sexual abuse and a difficult relationship with her father. Jim Belushi appears as counterculture icon Ken Kesey, from whose writing course Lidia enters to kickstart her writing career."

"The hectic narration digs deep into the conflicts of traumatic relationships. From the first frames, the viewer is sucked into an unpredictable stream, in which trauma, desire, addiction, and writing interlock. The restless editing and reluctant sound design constantly keep the viewer reminded that all is not well."

"The film had its premiere in the Un Certain Regard section at Cannes International Film Festival, where the audience received it with a standing ovation. Stewart is also the film’s co-writer beside Andy Mingo." Rauli Karjalainen (translated by Vilja Hynynen)

"Kristen Stewartin debyyttiohjaus on raivokas ja kunnianhimoinen kuvaus siitä, kuinka traumasta voi kasvaa taidetta."

"Näyttelijä Kristen Stewartin raivokas ohjausdebyytti The Chronology of Water perustuu amerikkalaiskirjailija Lidia Yuknavitchin samannimiseen omaelämäkertaan, joka ilmestyi vuonna 2011 ja on ollut myyntihitti. Se kertoo rajun katkelmallisesti ja vahvasti tyylitellen hyväksikäytetyn kilpatason uimarin muodonmuutoksesta huumeongelman kautta menestyneeksi kirjailijaksi."

"Imogen Poots tekee vereslihalle venyvän roolin Lidiana, jonka elämää varjostaa seksuaalinen hyväksikäyttö ja vaikea isäsuhde. Jim Belushi vierailee vastakulttuuri-ikoni Ken Keseynä, jonka ryhmäkirjoituskurssilta Lidia hakee vauhtia kirjoittajanuralleen."

"Kiihkeä ja fragmentaarinen kerronta pureutuu syvälle traumaattisen suhteen ristiriitaisuuksiin. Elokuva upottaa katsojan jo ensikuvista lähtien arvaamattomaan virtaan, jossa trauma, halu, addiktio ja kirjoittaminen lomittuvat. Levoton leikkaus ja vastahankainen äänisuunnittelu muistuttavat alati siitä, että kaikki ei ole hyvin."

"Elokuva sai ensi-iltansa Un Certain Regard -sarjassa Cannesin elokuvajuhlilla, missä yleisö otti sen vastaan seisoaltaan taputtaen. Stewart on myös toinen elokuvan käsikirjoittajista Andy Mingon lisäksi." Rauli Karjalainen

AA: Kristen Stewart's The Chronology of Water is a bold and unconventional growing up saga of a young swimming champion who loses her scholarship because of drug and alcohol addiction. She finds new inspiration in writing and puts her life back together. 

Stewart defies classical storytelling and creates a power flow of memories, sensations and fragments. She defies glamour and tells a visceral story about shock and injury. The Chronology of Water belongs to the territory of experimental cinema.

Stewart was inspired by the memoirs of Lidia Yuknavitch (born 1963 in San Francisco), her training to be an Olympic swimmer thwarted by the U.S. boycott of the 1980 Olympic Games in Moscow. Hers is a tale of domestic violence and sexual abuse leading to a life of drugs and alcoholism. Drunken driving leads to a sentence of hard labour. She gives birth, but the baby is stillborn. In one of the most heartbreaking scenes, Lidia and her man release the tiny sack of ashes into the water. 

Meanwhile, Lidia has met an inspired teacher, Ken Kesey, the author of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest incarnated charismatically by James Belushi. Kesey opens her the door to literature and creative writing. There Lidia finds a way to come to terms with her pain and anger. She becomes a writer and a teacher. And a mother.

The Chronology of Water is not narrative cinema. It is a piece of psychedelia, a quest through altered states of consciousness. The expression "stream of consciousness" is literal here, since this is the tale of a swimmer, elliptic and fragmentary, yet with an engrossing flow. We are swept along the furious current without anchor points.

A tale of sound and fury, sensual, physical, leading to redemption. Fundamentally it grows into an exploration into the core of existence.

Imogen Poots gives an extraordinary performance in the leading role.