THE CHRONOLOGY OF WATER Trailer: Kristen Stewart Makes Her Directorial Debut With a Raw Exploration of Healing

After years of giving unforgettably raw acting performances, Kristen Stewart takes the director’s seat for the first time with a raw character study of a troubled young woman on the path to recovery. The Chronology of Water, based on Lidia Yuknavitch’s 2011 memoir, stars Imogen Poots as Lidia, recounting her journey of escaping an abusive household, overcoming addiction and a miscarriage, to finding the path to heal through writing. It also stars Thora Birch, Susannah Flood, Tom Sturridge, Kim Gordon, Michael Epp, Earl Cave, Esme Creed-Miles, and Jim Belushi as “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” author Ken Kesey.

Shot on 16mm by cinematographer Corey C. Waters, the film premiered at this year’s Cannes Film Festival in the Un Certain Regard section. Stewart also previously directed a couple of short films and music videos before making her feature directorial debut. The Forge (distributor of festival hits such as Sujo, Black Dog, and We Were Dangerous) will release the film for an awards-qualifying one-week release in NY & LA on December 5, before releasing it nationwide on January 9. The first trailer has now been unveiled.

As the official synopsis reads:

Based on the beloved memoir by Lidia Yuknavitch and marking the directorial debut of Kristen Stewart, THE CHRONOLOGY OF WATER is a raw and unflinching portrait of survival, sexuality, and self-invention. The film traces Lidia’s life from her earliest memories in the Pacific Northwest, as a promising swimmer, through fractured relationships, near-motherhood, addiction, and encounters with artistic heroes. Told as a fluid memory wash, the story transforms trauma into art, embodying Yuknavitch’s defiant voice that made her work a modern cult classic. It is not only a chronicle of a woman becoming a writer, but a visceral journey through the wreckage and resilience of a life lived against the grain.

See the official trailer and poster below.

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