Director: Kristen Stewart

Cast: Imogen Poots, Thora Birch, Jim Belushi, Tom Sturridge, Earl Cave

The Chronology of Water is a 2025 American biographical drama directed by Kristen Stewart, adapting Lidia Yuknavitch's celebrated memoir of the same name. The film traces one woman's turbulent path through addiction, identity, and grief — anchored by a fierce, unflinching performance from Imogen Poots.

What is The Chronology of Water about?

Growing up in a household defined by violence and neglect, a young woman escapes into the water — competitive swimming becomes both sanctuary and lifeline. As she moves through adolescence and into adulthood, she navigates loss, substance dependency, complicated desires, and the slow, painful work of rebuilding a self. The story is structured not as a linear rise-and-fall but as something more fractured and true: memory layered over memory, body over body, shame giving way — gradually — to something that resembles survival. It is a portrait of a woman who breaks apart more than once, and each time has to decide what, if anything, to reassemble.

Cast & crew

Imogen Poots carries the film with extraordinary range, embodying the author at multiple stages of her life. Thora Birch, Jim Belushi, and Tom Sturridge fill the surrounding roles with quiet, lived-in weight. Director Kristen Stewart — better known as an actress — brings an insider's empathy to the source material, trusting her performers and refusing easy emotional resolution.

Context & significance

For Persian-speaking viewers in the diaspora, The Chronology of Water lands as a story about bodies and borders — about surviving families and systems that were never designed for you. Its themes of addiction and rebirth resonate across cultures where shame around mental health and sexuality is rarely spoken aloud. The film's unflinching treatment of bisexuality and personal trauma offers a kind of rare permission to look honestly at what gets passed down and what can be left behind. Available with Persian dubbing and Persian subtitles, the film is fully accessible whether you prefer to watch in your native language or follow along in Farsi while hearing the original performances.

Where & how to watch

The Chronology of Water is available on K-Time with Persian dubbing and Persian subtitles. Watch on your browser, TV, or phone — no VPN required, no geo-blocking, no extra download needed. Subscribe and cancel anytime.