Rating: NR | Runtime: 128 minutes
Release Date: January 9th, 2026 (USA)
Studio: The Forge
Director(s): Kristen Stewart
Writer(s): Kristen Stewart / Lidia Yuknavitch (memoir)

Inside the unnamed wet.

Never one to back down from a challenge, Kristen Stewart’s feature directorial debut is about as bold as one can get. Not only is the subject matter behind Lidia Yuknavitch’s memoir heavy, but the visual language used to portray the pain and self-destructive patterns resulting from it via PTSD-triggered flashes of memory provides a dense, sensorial experience not for the faint of heart. The film’s MVP is therefore very much editor Olivia Neergaard-Holm.

Stewart isn’t just the one orchestrating things behind the camera either. She’s also the screenwriter behind an extremely complex script that’s heavily balanced upon voiceover (especially for a first act wherein Lidia is purposefully silent on-scene until given the opportunity for release before heading to college). The whole almost feels like a non-fiction essay at times—a collage of images tied together by emotion more than plot.

Imogen Poots is fearless as Lidia. Michael Epp is terrifying as her father. And how fantastic is Jim Belushi as Ken Kesey? His ability to inject levity without undermining how formidable he was in helping Lidia process her nightmare is a necessary bridge between a chaotic first half with occasional calm and a calm second with chaos a constant threat. The result is impressive, but definitely not for everyone. It’s so dense and heavy that minutes feel like hours. Not because it’s boring, but that it’s so overwhelming.

Great to see Andy Mingo’s name as a producer. I backed Josh Leake and his still-unrealized Lullaby adaptation (Chuck Palahniuk) on Kickstarter in 2016 wherein attaching Stewart was supposed to fast-track production. It did not. We’re still hoping it comes to fruition, but maybe it’s the reason Stewart found Yuknavitch (Mingo is her husband and played by Charlie Carrick in the movie). So, we did get something. The film industry is weird that way.

The Chronology of Water had an Oscars-qualifying run on December 5th, 2025.

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Imogen Poots in THE CHRONOLOGY OF WATER; courtesy of The Forge.