By Design
Directed by Amanda Kramer4.972%4.3
A twist on the body swap genre.
By Design Ratings & Reviews
- Mike Shulman3 april 2026I'll start by saying really love Juliette Lewis. That's about the only positive thing I can say about By Design. A move that thinks it's so much smarter and more clever than the people watching in. When in all honesty it's simply weird and bizarre. A woman wants a chair... she can't really afford... and then someone else buys it... just the lead up to this takes 20+ minutes with the movie going out of it's way to spell everything out for us with the over the top surreal dialogue. Nobody acts and thinnks like these women... More of less it's people saying things that people would really only think and never actually say before framing these thoughts differently. After this... she swaps "bodies" with the chair somehow. From there what we're supposed to get out of By Design is that people like her as a chair more than they like her as her... ok... awesome... so why not swap her with a different person... or a dog... or a fly... or anything else that's not a chair... But alas that would render the first 20 minutes spent shopping in the upscale chair store mute so I digress. Watch this at your own risk... The only reason you'll keep watching is that you're waiting for something of relevance to happy... I'll save you... it never happens... This is clearly an attempt by the film makers to make movie that kind of noir/mystery/abstract and thinking they can cleverly and easily relate it to everyday life... And they fail miserbaly. By Design 1/10
- Kevin Ward1 juli 2025By Design hinges on an intriguing premise—Juliette Lewis plays Camille, a woman who swaps bodies with a chair and slowly realizes people seem to prefer her that way. It’s reaching for commentary on objectification and invisibility, but its execution is so muted and deadpan it barely registers. The film uses expressive lighting, interpretive dance, and vintage Gershwin to show Camille’s inner world—but these gestures feel more ornamental than affecting. Lewis, usually a live wire, is stuck in stillness, which suits the concept but leaves the film lifeless. There’s a voice here, and a point worth making. But By Design treats its own allegory with such stiff seriousness that the message ends up echoing its form: inert.
By Design Trivia
By Design was released on 23 januari 2025.
By Design was directed by Amanda Kramer.
By Design has a runtime of 1 u, 31 m.
By Design was produced by Sarah Winshall, Miranda Bailey, Natalie Whalen, Jacob Agger, Amanda Kramer.
A twist on the body swap genre.
The key characters in By Design are Camille (Juliette Lewis), Olivier (Mamoudou Athie), Lisa (Samantha Mathis).
By Design is rated Not Rated.
By Design is a Drama, Sciencefiction, Komedie film.