Kristen Stewart has made a striking entry into directing with her feature film debut, The Chronology of Water, which premiered recently at various film festivals. Adapted from Lidia Yuknavitch’s experimental memoir, the film explores themes of pain, memory, and desire through a deeply personal and impressionistic lens. Stewart’s directorial approach challenges traditional storytelling, insisting that the film be experienced from individual perspectives. Her Kristen Stewart directorial debut has quickly attracted attention for its raw honesty and innovative style.
Stewart, known primarily for her acting career, has embraced a very distinct voice behind the camera. She acknowledges that the film divides audiences but cares deeply about authentic reactions.
“Whether it’s your least favourite movie or your most favourite, it’s not lying, it’s genuine. And I’m so fucking proud of that,”
Stewart declares. This declaration sets the tone for a film unapologetically honest and artistically daring.
The Origins and Artistic Vision Behind the Film
Stewart’s fascination with Yuknavitch’s memoir began on the set of the film JT LeRoy in 2018, when she encountered the book’s intense and fragmented style. The chaotic nature of memory and its metaphorical relationship to language resonated with her, inspiring Stewart to adapt it as her first film project.
“Forty pages in, I was so rallied and so viciously adamant that nobody else could make the movie but me,”
she recalls, emphasizing the physical and emotional pull the text exerted on her.
The memoir’s exploration of female desire and trauma struck a particularly personal chord. Stewart describes the narrative as exposing
“the seeping birthplaces that are our orifices, and it’s where we hold our power, but it’s also where we’re taken advantage of.”
She saw the film as a way to remove societal restraints. “We’re all so muzzled,” she said,
“And it just felt like the muzzle was off. That’s the fun part. It’s got a loud mouth. A big, wide-open mouth.”
After reaching out to Yuknavitch with an impassioned email, Stewart received encouragement from the author, who was struck by the kinship between their artistic sensibilities. Yuknavitch remarked,
“She was explaining to me why I could never let this book be a regular biopic movie, and how I had to let her make a piece of art out of it. The language she used went under my skin immediately, because it wasn’t regular-person language.”
This connection was deeper than mere collaboration; it was the meeting of two artists who understood the intimate power of storytelling through unconventional means.
“They run across each other’s work, and these threads or streams we don’t entirely understand touch each other. And I think that’s what happened,”
Yuknavitch added.
Navigating Challenges in Bringing the Film to Life
Producing The Chronology of Water was far from straightforward. Both Stewart and lead actress Imogen Poots discussed the difficulties faced by women presenting confessional, autobiographical material, a genre often taken more seriously when authored by men. Stewart pointed out,
“There are so many examples within modern literature of men laying it all bare, but as soon as you do something overtly personal as a woman, it’s less serious,”
adding,
“We’ve just been fully X-ed out of modernism in the canon. It’s like we don’t exist in it whatsoever. And it’s such a fucking crock of shit. You have to be Virginia Woolf to be considered a good writer.”
The controversy and discomfort around the film’s themes, which include incest, rape, grief, and desire, complicated its financing and marketing. Stewart described pitching the movie as a struggle:
“OK, well, what’s it about, incest and rape? Fun!”
she recalls skeptically. She elaborated,
“It’s about the gouging out of desire, and the reframing of that, and how empowered that is. In a slug line, it’s a really tough sell.”
The project took eight years to develop, with filming eventually taking place largely in Latvia.
During this period, Stewart continued her acting career and directed smaller-scale efforts, such as two short films and a music video for the band Boygenius. Despite the setbacks and hesitation from some collaborators—including her longtime producer Charles Gillibert, who admitted he couldn’t finish the script—Stewart remained resolute.
“He really encouraged me not to make this movie,”
she says with a smile.
“I was like: we’re gonna cease being friends if you keep saying this to me.”
Imogen Poots Brings Physicality and Intensity to the Lead Role
Imogen Poots portrays the adult Lidia with striking intensity and vulnerability. Her commitment to the role required engaging fully with the film’s mixture of raw emotion, including scenes suffused with sex, drugs, violence, and grief. Poots acknowledges,
“Any actress I know would have wanted to play this part,”
underlining the role’s complexity and appeal.
In fact, the decision to cast Poots was rooted in loyalty and artistic preference rather than commercial considerations.
“If Kristen had hired a massive movie star, then it would have made getting the money a hell of a lot easier,”
Poots admits, indicating that their choice added to the obstacles during production. Stewart’s preference was clear:
“She’s my favourite actor, and everyone else sucked. There was literally no one else, and she’s been a fave of mine for ever.”
The personal bond between the two was symbolized humorously by their shared “bucktooth” smiles, which Poots highlighted with a playful sense of camaraderie.
A Community of Creatives Shapes the Film’s Ensemble
The cast features notable names including Kim Gordon, Thora Birch, and Jim Belushi, who plays the late author Ken Kesey. This eclectic group reflects a pride in creative communities that have nurtured each member’s artistic endeavors. Poots noted to Stewart,
“What’s really cool, and you wouldn’t have been aware of it, is that these people, who have all been at the centre of these incredibly creative community movements, wanted in on what you were doing.”
Stewart, however, insists that the film’s path was fraught with difficulty.
“Nobody did me any favours, trust me,”
she says seriously.
“In fact, we got fucked. In the face. Over and over.”
The casting of Jim Belushi happened after other actors dropped out, and Stewart appreciates his support:
“I don’t think it was an easy yes. But the feeling of him supporting you, a nice pat on the back from Jim Belushi, could make you cry. He’s kind of a radical, and he’s a hippy, and he was perfect to play this part.”
Focus on Lidia’s Story Amidst a Fluid Narrative Style
Rejecting traditional storytelling methods, The Chronology of Water presents its narrative through a series of memories and fragments. Male characters enter and exit Lidia’s life intermittently, resulting in actors appearing on set briefly, which Poots describes evocatively as
“sort of like a conveyor belt.”
Stewart offers an alternative view, calling these scenes “chapters.” Both actresses praised the contributions of the supporting cast, with Poots lauding them as “insanely brilliant, talented actors.”
Stewart emphasized how the film subverted typical actor-centered scenes.
“It was fucking incredible to watch male actors come in and have it not be about them. I would be like: sorry, but we’re actually not gonna shoot you. We’re just gonna shoot her. But talk to her. You’re here, kind of, but this is about her.”
Poots’ laughter suggests this was a rare and refreshing approach. Both agree this dynamic, among others, makes their collaboration unique and express plans to work on many more projects together.
Thora Birch Reflects on Working with Stewart
Thora Birch, who plays Lidia’s older sister Claudia in a pivotal early scene, connected easily with Stewart on shared experiences of child stardom. From her home in Los Angeles, Birch describes the interaction with Stewart as intense and focused:
“You cannot enter a conversation with Kristen Stewart without coming locked, loaded and ready to go,”
she says with a laugh, adding, “It’s intimidating!”
Birch’s role in the film encompasses moments of deep emotional resonance, such as comforting Lidia after the loss of her stillborn daughter. She praises Poots’ performance as powerfully captivating:
“Imogen is just a knock-down, one-two-punch, hazelnut-popping actress out of the Brit academy if I ever saw it.”
Birch’s trust in Stewart was immediate.
“I’m not going to lie, it was a little bit of a daunting process, but I just trusted her already,”
she explains.
Birch drew parallels between their careers, noting their common language as performers who began young.
“Maybe I related to her because we’re both performers who started out very, very young, and so we had a common language. I say she’s my spirit animal. She does a lot of things that I do, but just way better.”
Having observed Stewart’s public journey from a distance, Birch admires her resilience in maintaining authenticity despite fame’s pressures.
“The way she handled [getting famous young], I was just like: dude, that’s with aplomb. You knocked it out of the park, because you held on to your individuality and your point of view, which can really be difficult to hold on to.”
A Film That Defies Expectations and Opens Raw Dialogues
The Chronology of Water diverges sharply from the more commercial films associated with Stewart, embracing experimental and poetic storytelling. Birch notes that the film is “a very Kristen Stewart movie,” indicating that its boldness aligns with Stewart’s artistic identity. The movie confronts difficult topics rarely discussed openly, including menstruation, stillbirth, and family sexual abuse. Birch appreciates the film’s unique combination of fantasy, poeticism, and brutal honesty, calling it
“a punk rock arthouse movie that is like a non-psychedelic ayahuasca trip.”
Though the final product was unpredictable during production, Birch’s faith in Stewart’s vision never wavered. Upon seeing the finished film, she called it something that could only be described as powerful direction from Stewart.
“One reviewer said: homegirl can direct. And coming from LA, I was like: yeah, that’s it. Homegirl can direct. She knows what’s up.”
Upcoming Release and Cultural Impact
The Chronology of Water is scheduled for release in UK cinemas on 6 February, marking an important milestone in Kristen Stewart’s transition into filmmaking. The film’s candid treatment of feminine experience and discomfort with societal norms positions it as a challenging but essential contribution to contemporary cinema. Its experimental form and thematic boldness may provoke dialogue around personal trauma and artistic expression, shining a light on voices and stories too often silenced. Going forward, Stewart’s commitment to making films unbound by commercial conventions suggests a promising and innovative directorial career ahead.
