There's something unsettling about watching Kristen Stewart disappear completely behind the camera. The new international trailer for The Chronology of Water—her feature directorial debut—feels like watching someone we've known for years suddenly speak an entirely different language. And honestly? I'm not sure if she's fluent yet.
“Disappear into your imagination! Nobody's in the room but you and that pen!” The trailer opens with this declaration, and immediately you know Stewart isn't playing it safe. Based on Lidia Yuknavitch's autobiographical memoir, this Cannes 2025 premiere follows a young woman's journey from Olympic swimming hopeful to self-destructive addict to celebrated writer. It's the kind of transformative arc that sounds profound on paper but often crumbles under the weight of its own literary pretensions.
Swimming Against the Current of Expectation
Imogen Poots anchors the film as Lidia, a role that demands she navigate trauma, addiction, and artistic awakening with equal conviction. The trailer gives us glimpses of her underwater sequences—there's something hypnotic about the way Stewart frames these moments, like she's trying to make drowning look like flying. It works. Sometimes.
The cast surrounding Poots feels deliberately eclectic: Thora Birch, Earl Cave, Tom Sturridge, and Kim Gordon create this oddly compelling constellation of characters. But it's Jim Belushi as Ken Kesey that raises eyebrows—not because it's bad casting, but because it's so unexpected it almost breaks the spell the trailer works hard to cast.
Stewart co-wrote the screenplay with Andy Mingo, adapting Yuknavitch's raw memoir into what appears to be a meditation on how women transform trauma into art. The concept is solid. The execution… well, that remains to be seen.
Festival Circuit Pedigree Meets Messy Reality
Having premiered at Cannes earlier this year, The Chronology of Water is making its rounds through Vienna and London Film Festivals before its French release on October 15th, 2025. The US gets to wait until January 2026—a timeline that suggests either careful platform strategizing or lingering distribution concerns.
Ridley Scott's involvement as producer adds gravitas to the project, though his presence feels more like industry insurance than creative partnership. Stewart seems to be the primary creative voice here, for better or worse.
The trailer itself feels… exhausting. Beautiful, yes. Emotionally ambitious, absolutely. But there's something about the way it layers trauma upon trauma, swimming upon writing upon family dysfunction, that makes you wonder if Stewart bit off more than she could cinematically chew.
When Literary Adaptation Meets Visual Poetry
Here's what works: Stewart clearly understands visual metaphor. The water imagery isn't just literal—it becomes this recurring motif of drowning and rebirth that gives the film its thematic backbone. When Poots is underwater, you feel the suffocation. When she's writing, you sense the air returning to her lungs.
What doesn't work: the trailer feels like it's trying to be three different movies at once. Sports drama. Addiction memoir. Coming-of-age literary adaptation. The tonal shifts are jarring in a way that doesn't feel intentional—more like a director still finding her voice across multiple registers.
The French trailer, released by Les Films du Losange, presents the material with European sensibilities that American audiences might find either refreshingly artistic or frustratingly obtuse. Stewart's clearly aiming for something more Malick than Marvel, which is admirable but risky for a first-time director.
The Stewart Factor
Let's be honest—part of the intrigue here is watching Stewart step fully behind the camera after years of giving some of the most interesting performances of her generation. From Twilight to Personal Shopper to Spencer, she's consistently chosen projects that challenge both her and audiences. This directorial debut feels like a natural evolution, even if the results look uneven.
There's something almost meta about Stewart adapting a story about a woman finding her voice through writing. It's hard not to read this as Stewart's own artistic declaration of independence—a move from interpreter to creator that feels both inevitable and slightly premature.
The trailer suggests a film that's more interested in emotional authenticity than narrative coherence, which could either be deeply moving or deeply frustrating. Probably both.
What You Should Know About ‘The Chronology of Water'
Stewart's Creative Control
This isn't just a directorial debut—Stewart co-wrote, produced, and directed while staying completely off-camera. It's the most creative control she's ever wielded.
Star Power Cast
Imogen Poots leads alongside Thora Birch, Tom Sturridge, Kim Gordon, and Jim Belushi as iconic writer Ken Kesey. Each brings different energy to what looks like a deliberately eclectic ensemble.
Festival Momentum
After its Cannes premiere, the film continues through Vienna and London Film Festivals before French release in October and US release in early 2026.
Literary Pedigree
Based on Lidia Yuknavitch's acclaimed memoir, the source material has built-in credibility and emotional weight that could elevate or burden the adaptation.
Visual Ambition
The trailer showcases Stewart's clear visual sensibility, particularly with water imagery that serves both literal and metaphorical purposes throughout the narrative.
The Chronology of Water opens in France October 15th, 2025, with US release planned for January 2026. Whether Stewart has successfully translated literary trauma into cinematic poetry remains to be seen, but the ambition alone makes this worth watching.
Source: Youtube
