February 12, 2026
FILM: BY DESIGN
WRITTEN & DIRECTED BY: AMANDA KRAMER
STARRING: JULIETTE LEWIS, MAMOUDOU ATHIE, SAMANTHA MATHIS
RATING: 2 out of 4 stars
By Dan Pal
There’s a certain kind of art house film that gets parodied on television shows like Seinfeld or Saturday Night Live. You know the kind. They’re so absurd and self-serious that they almost beg to be mocked. By Design is one of those films. It stars Juliette Lewis as Camille, a middle-aged woman who enjoys having lunch and shopping with her girlfriends but as is observed by narrator Melanie Griffith, she says yes perhaps too often and is devoid of ideas. What Camille really wants is to be loved and praised. One day, while in a furniture store that seems to have nothing but chairs, Camille notices a wooden chair that stands out among all others. She’s jealous and envious of the attention it gets. She decides she must have it. One of her friends remarks, “but we never BUY!” Sadly, Camille has little to spend on it and decides to use her going-out-for-lunch money to make the purchase. By the time she returns to the store, it’s already been sold. What is she to do now? Desperate, Camille somehow becomes one with the chair and doesn’t want to let it go. She’s so consumed by it that….ready for this?...her soul enters the chair. And that becomes the premise for the rest of the movie. Phew!
One can’t ask a lot of questions with a film like this because they won’t be answered. This isn’t even a science fiction story in which we can buy into its surrealistic or genre specific elements. No, this one is shot and acted more like a performance art piece. Dialogue is stylized, especially between Camille’s two friends, Lisa and Irene, played by Samantha Mathis and Robin Tunney. Presumably, writer/director Amanda Kramer knew what she wanted out of them. They’re “performing” for each other just like they “act” when they are going about town with Camille pretending to be serious shoppers. They are also soulless as they go through their weekly rituals. Camille though is the one who really loses it. For most of the rest of the film she is the awake version of comatose. This means that Juliette Lewis sits, or lays, staring for much of the running time as Camille’s soul is essentially turned over to the chair.
Meanwhile, a piano player named Olivier (Mamoudou Athie) is given the chair as a gift and falls for it. Is it Camille he adores or her soul? Yes, it’s an absurd question to ask which is why I said it’s futile to ask such questions. Eventually Olivier brings the chair to a dinner party during one overly long scene. His attachment fascinates his artsy-looking friends. Scenes like this only add to the crazed surrealistic nature of the film.
Other scenes are a bit of mystery. Betty Buckley is featured in one scene as Camille’s mother. Because the latter is not responding to anything, mom talks the whole time but doesn’t consider taking Camille in for some help. That would destroy the absurd nature of the film. The monologue from Buckley is great though and perhaps sheds some light on why Camille feels so empty inside.
Another scene features Clifton Collins Jr. as Jacob, a stalker who comes to harm Camille. The inclusion of this one comes out of the blue and seems unrelated to anything else in the film. Who he is and why he decides to terrorize Camille are yet other questions that remain unanswered.
The production design is interesting, filled with sparse sets and a few effective uses of colors. It feels and looks like a play and perhaps, again, that is an intentional choice to highlight the theme of performing. Many of the scenes come across as ballet numbers, including at least one “dance” with the chair that Camille has become.
Ultimately the film may be a metaphor for our obsession with inanimate objects and the “things” we feel we must have. I’m not sure how profound this is but then this is a film about a woman who essentially becomes a chair. So, you can either buy the ideas or simply look at the film as a pretentious and exhausting art film to be mocked by those who enjoy a good laugh.
By Design opens in theaters this week.
FILM: BY DESIGN
WRITTEN & DIRECTED BY: AMANDA KRAMER
STARRING: JULIETTE LEWIS, MAMOUDOU ATHIE, SAMANTHA MATHIS
RATING: 2 out of 4 stars
By Dan Pal
There’s a certain kind of art house film that gets parodied on television shows like Seinfeld or Saturday Night Live. You know the kind. They’re so absurd and self-serious that they almost beg to be mocked. By Design is one of those films. It stars Juliette Lewis as Camille, a middle-aged woman who enjoys having lunch and shopping with her girlfriends but as is observed by narrator Melanie Griffith, she says yes perhaps too often and is devoid of ideas. What Camille really wants is to be loved and praised. One day, while in a furniture store that seems to have nothing but chairs, Camille notices a wooden chair that stands out among all others. She’s jealous and envious of the attention it gets. She decides she must have it. One of her friends remarks, “but we never BUY!” Sadly, Camille has little to spend on it and decides to use her going-out-for-lunch money to make the purchase. By the time she returns to the store, it’s already been sold. What is she to do now? Desperate, Camille somehow becomes one with the chair and doesn’t want to let it go. She’s so consumed by it that….ready for this?...her soul enters the chair. And that becomes the premise for the rest of the movie. Phew!
One can’t ask a lot of questions with a film like this because they won’t be answered. This isn’t even a science fiction story in which we can buy into its surrealistic or genre specific elements. No, this one is shot and acted more like a performance art piece. Dialogue is stylized, especially between Camille’s two friends, Lisa and Irene, played by Samantha Mathis and Robin Tunney. Presumably, writer/director Amanda Kramer knew what she wanted out of them. They’re “performing” for each other just like they “act” when they are going about town with Camille pretending to be serious shoppers. They are also soulless as they go through their weekly rituals. Camille though is the one who really loses it. For most of the rest of the film she is the awake version of comatose. This means that Juliette Lewis sits, or lays, staring for much of the running time as Camille’s soul is essentially turned over to the chair.
Meanwhile, a piano player named Olivier (Mamoudou Athie) is given the chair as a gift and falls for it. Is it Camille he adores or her soul? Yes, it’s an absurd question to ask which is why I said it’s futile to ask such questions. Eventually Olivier brings the chair to a dinner party during one overly long scene. His attachment fascinates his artsy-looking friends. Scenes like this only add to the crazed surrealistic nature of the film.
Other scenes are a bit of mystery. Betty Buckley is featured in one scene as Camille’s mother. Because the latter is not responding to anything, mom talks the whole time but doesn’t consider taking Camille in for some help. That would destroy the absurd nature of the film. The monologue from Buckley is great though and perhaps sheds some light on why Camille feels so empty inside.
Another scene features Clifton Collins Jr. as Jacob, a stalker who comes to harm Camille. The inclusion of this one comes out of the blue and seems unrelated to anything else in the film. Who he is and why he decides to terrorize Camille are yet other questions that remain unanswered.
The production design is interesting, filled with sparse sets and a few effective uses of colors. It feels and looks like a play and perhaps, again, that is an intentional choice to highlight the theme of performing. Many of the scenes come across as ballet numbers, including at least one “dance” with the chair that Camille has become.
Ultimately the film may be a metaphor for our obsession with inanimate objects and the “things” we feel we must have. I’m not sure how profound this is but then this is a film about a woman who essentially becomes a chair. So, you can either buy the ideas or simply look at the film as a pretentious and exhausting art film to be mocked by those who enjoy a good laugh.
By Design opens in theaters this week.