How far would you go to be a centerpoint of affection? I’m not asking from the standpoint of physical alterations; would you swamp consciousness with an inanimate object to be desired? Writer/director Amanda Kramer’s latest film, “By Design,” sticks to its off-kilter premise with a specific artistic vision. It’s a body-swamp film at its surface where a woman suddenly switches her aura into a brown, sleekly constructed wooden armchair. Interpretive dance numbers, the stiffness in which characters speak dialogue, silence, and the 80s/90s style production design are all tools used to propel this unorthodox setup forward. But for how relatively uneventful being a chair could be, Kramer takes this and bluntly showcases themes anybody can recognize  how women are relegated to background noise in society, envy, and our attachments to things, are a few. Yet, the film seems elusive when you try to grasp the overall totality of this decorative exercise. 

Camille (Juliette Lewis) generally leads a good life and follows a particular routine. She goes to lunches with friends Lisa (Samantha Mathis) and Irene (Robin Tunney), a routine event Camille saves explicitly up for. The get-togethers allow Lisa and Irene to get out passive-aggressive pleasantries with a dash of reveling in wealth while Camillie sinks into the background. After they are finished, the three usually take a trip to the local furniture store to look around, but not buy anything. However, this particular day is different. The narration by Melanie Griffith is our guide through this world and informs us that Camille is unfulfilled. She’s content, but needs a shakeup. Enter the brown chair, which Camille is wholly enamored with. It’s slightly out of her price range, but she has to have it. It doesn’t help her friends suddenly ponder buying it as well. Camille goes home and ponders how to make the finances work. When she returns to the store the following day, the chair has gained a buyer. In a fit of desperation, Camille wishes to become the chair itself. Indeed, it’s better to be admired than live a boring life, right? 


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What’s interesting is the dichotomy in how Lewis plays her character once the central premise of “By Design” is introduced. Once the divide happens, Camille lies motionless with a stare for most of the film’s runtime. Her new condition doesn’t feel as if it changes the outside world in terms of her closest relationships. Camilie’s mother (Betty Buckley) pours all her outside worries and troubles onto her and shows her affection with shoes. Lisa and Irene are kinda helpful and maybe notice something is different. But they are so self-involved that caring for Camille becomes a competition. Kramer further dives into perspective, showing Camile’s perspective as the chair itself. 

That takes on more meaning once a pianist named Olivier (Mamoudou Athie) enters the picture. Fresh off a breakup, he plays for weird, abstract parties. While his ex Marta (Alisa Torres) took everything in his apartment, she gave Olivier the brown chair as a gift. He is soon entranced by how beautiful it is and even becomes possessive when collectors try to regain it in a comedic part of the film with a Udo Kier sighting. “By Design” allows numerous dance numbers to do the talking (well, Camile can’t do that). The two main characters gain what they want – Camille has admiration, and Olivier has something that can’t be taken away from him. As out there as things could have gotten in “By Design,” Kramer elects to keep things as grounded as they can possibly be. That may throw you off, given how the film presents itself early on.

From that aspect, it’s better to look at this film as a living art installation with intentions for you to take away from it. In stating that, “By Design” has a weighty abstractness, which may keep some viewers at a healthy distance. The characters don’t necessarily carry themselves like conventional people. Because of that, the film frequently circles back on its themes as if it knows the characterization is not the sticking point. Humans, by nature, want to feel important and to matter. Kramer questions if there’s a clean balance between intellectual fulfillment and carnal desire. Perhaps there is no correct answer, and “By Design” provides something to ponder rather than an easy answer.  It’s as much a moving installation you’d witness in a populated city square as much as it is a 90-minute story. 

 

“By Design” premiered at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival.