The Chronology of Water had its premiere in the Un Certain Regard section of the 2025 Cannes Film Festival on May 16, 2025. The film received positive reviews from critics.
Premise
A young woman finds her voice through the written word and her salvation as a swimmer – ultimately becoming a triumphant teacher, mother and a singular modern writer.
It was announced in November 2022 that Kristen Stewart was set to make her feature directorial debut with an adaptation of Lidia Yuknavitch's memoir The Chronology of Water, directing from a screenplay she co-wrote with Andy Mingo, while Imogen Poots was attached to star. Scott Free Productions is financing the project with Ridley Scott, Michael Pruss and Mingo serving as producers, and Scott Aharoni, Sinan Eczacibasi, Metin Alihan Yalcindag and Rebecca Feuer serving as executive producers.[3] In September 2024, it was announced Thora Birch, Earl Cave, Michael Epp, Susannah Flood, Kim Gordon and Jim Belushi had joined the cast of the film.[4]
Kim Gordon, Imogen Poots, Kristen Stewart, and Thora Birch before the red carpet in Cannes
The Chronology of Water had its world premiere at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival on May 16, 2025, and received a six and a half minute standing ovation.[6][7] In August 2025, The Forge acquired the distribution rights to the film in the United States, scheduled to be released in limited theaters on December 5, 2025, before expanding to a wider release on January 9, 2026.[8]
Reception
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 94% of 35 critics' reviews are positive.[9]Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 76 out of 100, based on 14 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.[10] M. Sellers Johnson of Offscreen lauded the film as a highlight of the 2025 Cannes Film Festival writing, "Stewart’s blistering debut will surely prompt divisive discourse on its aggressive art film aesthetics, challenging violent and sexual material, and close lens on the topic of trauma. But for all its experiments and deliberate provocations, the film finds itself grounded in deep, personal meaning."[11]
Umnia El-Neil of Obscurae praised the film’s refusal to portray Lidia Yuknavitch as a “Perfect Victim,” noting its seamless navigation through fragmented memories and powerful performances from Imogen Poots and Jim Belushi. [12] Tim Grierson of Screen Daily highlighted the film’s intimate 16mm aesthetics and Poots’ raw portrayal, while noting that its persistent tone of pain can at times feel repetitive, despite Stewart’s strong directorial instincts and a resonant, hopeful conclusion. [13] Pavel Snapkou of Showbiz by PS offered a more mixed assessment, acknowledging the film’s emotional intensity and stylistic ambition while pointing out its uneven pacing. [14]
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