Key Takeaways
- Plot Overview: The film presents a raw depiction of womanhood and survival through the lens of Lidia Yuknavitch’s memoir.
- Directorial Debut: Kristen Stewart makes her feature directorial debut with a deeply personal adaptation of The Chronology of Water.
- Performance Highlight: Imogen Poots delivers a powerful performance that captures the complexities of Lidia’s character.
- Thematic Depth: The film explores themes of trauma, addiction, and the journey toward self-discovery.
Plot: An unflinching portrait of womanhood, survival, and artistry at the fragmented crossroads of memory and memoir, adapted from the book of the same name by Lidia Yuknavitch. Imogen Poots stars as Lidia, a young woman who finds escape from an abusive home through competitive swimming in the 1980s. After her athletic dreams are derailed, she navigates love, loss, addiction, sexuality, and her own self-destructive impulses while discovering her voice and healing through the transformative act of writing.
Review: There have been countless actors who have transitioned behind the camera once they reached a point in their career, allowing for a creative stretch to direct a passion project. While some have turned it into a second phase of their career, others have faced criticism that advises them to stick to acting. Kristen Stewart’s career has afforded her a quicker opportunity to tackle her feature directorial debut, The Chronology of Water. Based on the memoir of the same name, The Chronology of Water has been in development since 2022, with Stewart also writing the screenplay. An artistic and impressionistic film, Stewart brings an elegiac eye to tell this deeply personal story, which is transformed into a lyrical poem anchored by a fantastic performance from Imogen Poots.
A popular book since its publication in 2011, The Chronology of Water is a tale of sexual and substance abuse told through the writing of Lidia Yuknavitch. Played by Imogen Poots, Lidia’s journey from being molested as a child to attending college on a swim scholarship, followed by struggles with relationships and addiction, unfolds across several years, presented in a semi-linear fashion. From the outset, the film stutters to life, making me question whether there was something wrong with the copy of the film I was watching, but it was a deliberate choice by Stewart. There are numerous flourishes throughout the film that are intended to demonstrate that Stewart is not merely passively adapting the source material but instead actively directing this film as a work of art. The nuances of her approach to making the film are tangible and something I expect some viewers will find self-indulgent. I found them to work more often than not.
At the center of what makes The Chronology of Water work is the powerful performance from Imogen Poots. There is a lot to take in during this two-hour film, including incest, abuse, and exploration of sexuality through bondage. But while some of the sexual content is explicitly described, Stewart shies away from showing any controversial acts on screen. For the vast majority of the film, the camera lingers on Poots’ face, letting her eyes and facial expressions do the heavy lifting. Aside from Poots, the most supporting screen time comes from Michael Epp and Susannah Flood as Lidia’s parents. Stewart’s stutter steps the film back and forth through time in the first chapters before settling into a linear stride in the second half. The tone and rhythm echo the unbalanced early years of Lidia’s life with her more stable adulthood. Poots also echoes that stability as her performance shifts from volatile and emotionally intense to a calmer and accepting state by the film’s end.
Other than Epp and Flood, the supporting actors in the film weave in and out at different junctures of Lidia’s journey. Earl Cave, Jeremy Ang Jones, Tom Sturridge, and Charlie Carrick portray various partners from Lidia’s life while rock icon Kim Gordon appears as a BDSM teacher. Thora Birch plays Lidia’s older sister, who also experiences sexual abuse as a child; much of the connection between Poots and Birch is unspoken but comes through clearly on screen. Esme Creed-Miles appears as a close friend who helps Lidia on her literary journey by introducing her to a project run by Ken Kesey, author of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, played by Jim Belushi. This project opens the creative floodgates that lead to the publication of the memoir this film is based on. Belushi rarely secures roles like this; he excels in portraying Kesey as a father figure and mentor while retaining his counterculture approach to life.
While The Chronology of Water would be a worthwhile watch regardless of who directed it, Kristen Stewart’s name recognition will hopefully open it up to a broader audience. Stewart has worked with many acclaimed filmmakers over her career; this film most closely feels influenced by her time with Pablo Larrain, director of Spencer. There are moments throughout that echo the dreamy and surreal tone that Larrain often employs. Some new filmmakers overuse concepts and techniques that audiences write off as pretentious; however, Stewart doesn’t push them too far. There are moments peppered throughout The Chronology of Water that connect back to cues from its start. At times, its second and third acts adhere to traditional styles enhanced by being shot on 16mm film. Lidia’s return to drugs or alcohol shifts style back to erratic early scenes; it is a practical approach that may signal a bright future for Kristen Stewart as a director.
While not defined by sexual and substance abuse sequences on screen,The Chronology of Water starts as a challenging portrait of psychological trauma. It transforms into drama about psychological growth and triumph over demons that haunt our past—a theme inherent in Lidia Yuknavitch’s writing reflected in recitations throughout this movie. This movie should not be viewed merely as Kristen Stewart’s directorial debut but rather as a faithful adaptation of a poetic memoir that would not have worked as a traditional biopic. The film is also an impressive showcase for Imogen Poots who delivers a standout performance ranking among her best. The Chronology of Water is a solid directorial debut for Stewart featuring one of the best performances of the year.
The Chronology of Water is now playing in theaters.
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Source:
JoBlo.com
