Kristen Stewart Admits Most of Her Movies S*ck While Defending Chronology of Water’s Brutality

Kristen Stewart opens up about The Chronology of Water’s raw portrayal of womanhood and why she believes her past movies don’t measure up.

Kristen Stewart might have entered the realm of fame as a teen icon with the Twilight franchise. However, since then she has charted a different course for herself, venturing into genres and projects few expected her to.

Now, Stewart has achieved another significant milestone: directing her first feature film, The Chronology of Water. A brutal film about what it means to be a woman, Stewart recently defended the brutality of the film in an interview at Cannes. As she earns rave reviews for her directorial debut we’re reminded of her admission that she’s made only five good films.

Kristen Stewart reckons she has made just five good movies

Kristen Stewart | Credit: Happiest Season / Hulu

Kristen Stewart has starred in several movies, spread across genres. Following worldwide stardom with the Twilight franchise, the actress has deviated more towards independent films and projects. Although she has time and again returned to more mainstream cinema, her portfolio is a work of versatility and range.

Even though not all of her projects have been as successful as one would have hoped, she still has managed to garner critical acclaim. Still, the Oscar-nominated actress claims she has only made about five good movies in her career.

“Where have I been”: The Only Regret Kristen Stewart Has About Her Wife Dylan Meyer

Back in 2021, while promoting Pablo Larrain’s biopic Spencer, the actress told The Sunday Times:

It’s a total crapshoot. I’ve probably made five really good films, out of 45 or 50 films? Ones that I go, ‘Wow, that person made a top-to-bottom beautiful piece of work!’

While she revealed two of her personal favorites to be Personal Shopper and Clouds of Sils Maria and left us to figure out the rest, we do know that The Chronology of Water will certainly be up there after hearing what Stewart has to say about her feature directorial debut.

Kristen Stewart on her feature debut film The Chronology of Water

The Chronology of Water | Credit: Les Films du Losange

Kristen Stewart has achieved a career milestone with The Chronology of Water. Having campaigned for years to get the film made, the actress is incredibly proud of her debut film, which recently had its world premiere at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival. Not only did she direct the film, but she also co-wrote the script with Andy Mingo.

A biographical romantic drama film based on the memoir of the same name by author Lidia Yuknavitch, the film is rather a visceral exploration of what it means to be a woman, but at the same time, it is not for the faint of heart due to its grotesqueness and emotional brutality.

Related

It’s Not Because Bella Was on Her Periods: Robert Pattinson’s Disgusted Reaction to Meeting Kristen Stewart for the First Time in Twilight Myth Debunked

While at Cannes, the Underwater star praised and defended the film’s brutality in an interview with Brut America:

I think this movie needs to feel like a figment of your imagination, and that’s something that only really relates to dreaming, and that is the French way… Being a woman is a really violent experience, even if you don’t have the sort of extreme experience that we depict in the film or that Lidia endured and came out of beautifically. I mean, she to be able to take really ugly things, metabolize them, process them, and put out something that you can live with, something that actually has joy.

Stewart also talked about the concept of pain and pleasure and how they are deeply tied together, remarking that there is just a hairline fracture between the two.

Women are, you know, not to be dramatic, it’s just these are facts. We are secrets. We are walking secrets…. We want to see you. We don’t want to hear you. Don’t tell us how you feel, makes us uncomfortable. The thing is we’re like harboring a lot of violence all of the time. And it’s even in the imagery that we consume. It’s like even if you haven’t bounced off of somebody who has violated you in a specific way, we are incredibly violated constantly.

So while her movie does resonate with women, the actress also stated that the movie is for anyone who is open and bleeding, which is 50% of the population. Following the success of The Chronology of Water, which received over 6 and a half minutes of standing ovation at Cannes, Kristen Stewart is eager to get back to directing (via Deadline and The Manila Times).

The Chronology of Water’s theatrical or streaming release date has not been revealed yet.