Hoping to become a writer, a young woman dives deep in 'The Chronology of Water'

The temptation erstwhile considering an experienced actor’s directorial debut is to spot it arsenic a glimpse into what matters astir to them — oregon conversely, what matters least. But Kristen Stewart has had specified a varied vocation successful beforehand of the camera, memorably uncovering her spot successful everything from immense franchises to the indie fringe, that 1 could ideate her archetypal changeable down the camera being astir anything.

And yet “The Chronology of Water” announces itself arsenic astir assuredly Stewart-esque (if 1 whitethorn coin that term) successful that, archetypal and foremost, it lives successful the personal, arsenic her attack to quality often does. Adapted by Stewart herself from a 2011 memoir by novelist Lidia Yuknavitch, the movie dives headfirst into the consciousness of a young pistillate who, implicit years of trying to found herself arsenic a writer, navigates a traumatic past, a turbulent contiguous and a aboriginal that indispensable marque country for the different 2 tenses. What evidently matters to Stewart is the totality of acquisition and “The Chronology of Water,” arty and naturalistic successful adjacent measure, is nary toe-dip into directing — it’s deep-end worldly from commencement to finish.

In Imogen Poots, who plays Lidia from precocious schoolhouse done motherhood, Stewart gets a career-best crook from this perennially underappreciated British actor. When Poots picks up the relation of Lidia aft a jagged opening featuring a younger histrion establishing a puerility of maltreatment and abandonment nether a scary begetter (Michael Epp) and anemic parent (Susannah Flood), Poots already looks similar she lived that prologue herself.

Lidia hopes that competitory swimming is her summons out. But being successful the h2o can’t negate on-land struggles: addiction, narration chaos (she mistreats a bully boyfriend) and a devastating loss. She hits reset erstwhile she moves successful with her older sister, Claudia (a fantastic Thora Birch), who had besides suffered their father’s abuse, and enters a originative penning programme nether a perennially stoned, supportive Ken Kesey, whom Jim Belushi someway avoids turning into a cliché of rumpled Great Writer wisdom. From there, the glimmers of a much peaceful beingness — 1 fueled by expression, not recklessness — springiness Lidia hope.

All the while, Stewart treats the collected imagery of her protagonist’s bruised beingness similar scattered jigsaw puzzle pieces with razor-sharp edges. It’s an assertive aesthetic for depicting achy memories: defiantly nonlinear, accessorized with harsh sound. Sometimes, it feels consecutive retired of movie school. But yet the experimentation comes to lucifer the ebb and travel of the communicative connected which some Stewart and Poots person a steadfast grip. It besides doesn’t wounded that Corey C. Waters’ 16mm cinematography is truthful richly textured and casual to autumn into, adjacent erstwhile what we’re seeing is sometimes highly discomfiting.

What’s astir entrancing, however, is Poots, who brings to carnivore the fullness of her being without ever tipping implicit into “showcase” acting. She plays Lidia crossed astir 2 decades, but understands the nuance that makes a precocious schooler look older. Of course, that’s besides Stewart’s handling — she admires her starring lady’s breadth, adjacent if her absorption doesn’t ever bash Poots justice. Stewart’s eagerness, for amended oregon worse, shakes things up, but much often than not it’s Poots starring the way, letting america successful connected the vibrating agony of figuring retired how, arsenic Lidia puts it, to crook memories into stories.