The Chronology of Water

2025

Action / Biography / Drama / Romance

14
Rotten Tomatoes Critics - Rotten 71% · 101 reviews
Rotten Tomatoes Audience - Upright 71% · 50 ratings
IMDb Rating 6.4/10 10 2320 2.3K

sexual abuse suicide attempt heroin abusive father swimmer writer

Plot summary

Plagued by an abusive childhood, a woman finds escape in competitive swimming, sexual experimentation, toxic relationships, and addiction before ultimately finding her voice through writing.

Director

Kristen Stewart Photo
Kristen Stewart

Top cast

Thora Birch Photo
Thora Birch as Claudia
Earl Cave Photo
Earl Cave as Phillip
James Belushi Photo
James Belushi as Ken Kesey
Imogen Poots Photo
Imogen Poots as Lidia
720p.WEB 1080p.WEB
1.15 GB
1280*780
English 2.0
NR
Subtitles sv  
24 fps
2 hr 8 min
Seeds 61
2.14 GB
1700*1036
English 2.0
NR
Subtitles sv  
24 fps
2 hr 8 min
Seeds 100

Movie Reviews

Reviewed by willphelan 6 / 10

Bold First Film

Kristen Stewart's directorial debut is a hard movie to watch, and that's what she intended. The Chronology of Water is unsettling and disturbing and succeeds at getting a reaction out of an audience. It's a movie that is purely based on emotion and lacks a central story or plot. It dives into dark themes without saying very much or having a message about the themes it's exploring. I can appreciate what Stewart was going for but I can't say I was particularly engaged. It definitely felt slow and dragged for me. There's some unique and cool editing and sound design. Overall there is actually a lot to like here, but it didn't entirely work for me. 6/10.
Reviewed by DJ_Nar 8 / 10

Sick and highly impressive

Reviewed by filmephile 7 / 10

Wading through the waves of trauma

This is a film about dealing with trauma. Those who are unable to relate may find this film frenetic. This film is chaotic, but that's often the experience of those working through their trauma or, in this film, swimming through their trauma.The water serves as an allegory for Lidia's trauma. Her swimming is her quite literally but also figuratively moving through it. And so the title refers to her sorting and working through her trauma to find a kind of chronology and flow to it so that she can finally make sense of it and learn to live with it.This is not presented linearly. Instead, events transpire and unfurl in vignettes that jump across time. One moment the film is in the past, the next the film is in the future, and the next the film is in the present. The film does a great job displaying not only working through trauma but also taking the reins and finally working through it to finally reclaim your life. More specifically, the main character is sexually abused as a minor. As an adult, we get to see her reclaim her sexuality and see how freeing and ecstatic that is.I personally have experienced trauma and abuse, and so I found this film not only relatable but also therapeutic and cathartic. It is naturalistic and raw. Poots turns in an incendiary performance here. Birch is warm and subtle in her limited screen time, and Belushi is charming and avuncular. Michael Epp is disquieting and intimidating as the abusive, distant father. The cinematography is nice, and there are a number of haunting images throughout; the film is shot on 16mm film, which made it feel like a phantasmagoria: hazy, visceral, and memory-like.That being said, the film is not without its issues. There are a number of overlong shots that don't really add much to the story. And the film can sometimes feel rather repetitive. And while this is probably to make the film more immersive and put viewers in Lidia's shoes, the film is very fragmented; it is sometimes unclear what exactly is going on onscreen, which was confusing and a tad unpleasant to watch. These issues cause the film to feel somewhat dull and monotonous from time to time.But this is worth checking out. It's a good film overall, particularly for a directorial debut. If you've been through trauma, you will find something in this film to relate to and appreciate. And even if you haven't been through that, you will find this film worth checking out.
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