A woman (Juliette Lewis) somehow sends her consciousness into a coveted vintage chair, and is surprised to find that people like her better as a chair. Meanwhile, her friends tend to her now-inert body, assuming that she’s just just giving them the silent treatment.
A highly unconventional comedy from Amanda Kramer (Please Baby Please), By Design may not be for everyone, but those who like their comedy a bit off-kilter and abstract will discover a treasure. Extravagantly unconcerned with realism, By Design is beautiful to look at, with its highly stylized interiors, expensive clothes, and oddly flat tones. Big kudos to production designer Grace Surnow for the hyper-realistic/unrealistic look of it all, aided and abetted by art director Angelica Vascuez. Kramer likes to cast women whom Hollywood seems to have left behind (Please Baby Please brought Demi Moore back into the fold prior to The Substance), and she scores big here, getting great work from Lewis, as well as from Melanie Griffith, Samantha Mathis, Robin Tunney, Betty Buckley. Oh, and Udo Kier’s here, too, oddly enough. Ultimately, By Design has a lot to say about the authenticity of our daily interactions and the validity of an unexamined existence, but… it really is a nice chair. ~SM