Kristen Stewart identified so deeply with Lidia Yuknavitch’s acclaimed memoir The Chronology of Water that she had to adapt and direct it, but from a certain angle, it feels like she’s present on screen, too. When actors take direction from their helmers, they often find themselves imitating their verbal and physical mannerisms; in this film of the same title, British actress Imogen Poots gives a notably Stewart-esque turn as Yuknavitch, bypassing the author’s real Florida accent for her director’s chippy, staccato inflections. Although the film version of The Chronology of Water, which premiered in Cannes’ Un Certain Regard, bends to clichés and can’t always make its unwieldy, repetitive structure an advantage, it’s an impressive expansion of what Stewart has brought to US and, indeed, international cinema (with that César sitting pretty on her mantelpiece). Her acting prowess breaks on through to the other side, falling into the director’s chair.

The personal memoir has gradually attained more credibility in the literary world; for sure, where would achingly fashionable “autofiction” be without it? One of The Chronology of Water’s main flaws is taking a story of great specificity – and affective detail regarding the realities of abuse – and making it feel overly generic. Lidia (her real name retained in the adaptation) goes from a troubled home, where her father Phillip (played broodingly by Michael Epp) routinely sexually abuses her and her sister Claudia (Thora Birch), to quite seamless literary and professional success, braided by narrative episodes involving her youth swimming ability, the loss of her only child, her mentorship by iconic US writer Ken Kesey (a gas to see Jim Belushi in the role!), and more empowering explorations of bisexuality and BDSM. Supposedly, the film was considerably cut down, with rumours abounding that Stewart will return to the editing room; whilst retaining the text’s chapter structure, all of these moments seem surreally truncated, although the director keeps her eyes straight on the (swimming) lane, making us feel the emotions on the hairs of our skin, and conjuring real, uplifting catharsis.

With DoP Corey C Waters, Stewart is at pains to find an enticing visual language for the literature. Living across the lens from so many great directors (among them David Fincher, Kelly Reichardt and David Cronenberg) has clearly influenced her “eye” in addition to her ease with actors from various schools of performance training. Her editing with Ali Abbasi collaborator Olivia Neergaard-Holm slips and slides across timelines and intensities, contrasting the particular “flow” of water with the solidity of her traumatic memories and of life’s passage. Yet all of this hard work flirts with overkill, with the visuals over-resembling an artsy 1990s alt-rock music video, which the shoegaze, industrial and Fiona Apple cuts on the non-diegetic soundtrack make plain.

As Cannes lore knows, with its famous actor-helmed flops from Ryan Gosling, Johnny Depp and more, moving behind the camera is a perilous business, in the unforgiving light of the media’s flashbulbs and nasty critics’ schadenfreude. But for all that doesn’t quite land in this film, Stewart’s passion for this story, and her obvious facility with the language of filmmaking, is infectious, and more directing credits (and perhaps Cannes appearances?) surely await.

The Chronology of Water is a co-production by France, Latvia, the USA and the UK, staged by Scott Free Productions, CG Cinema, Forma Pro Films and Nevermind Pictures. Its world sales are handled by Les Films du Losange.