By Design, written and directed by Amanda Kramer, is dynamic. It asks us to reflect on our existence through ignored and unloved characters. That is, above all, what they wish for throughout this unique drama. Kramer’s dialogue, and the performances that accompany it, is stilted. It takes a little getting used to, but once the film settles in, the choice makes more sense. With touching performances from Juliette Lewis and Mamoudou Athie, By Design explores the loneliness of wanting to be seen, and how the characters attempt that in a world that would rather be an echo chamber.
At the center of it all is Camille (Lewis), who struggles to feel anything. Her life consists of lunches with a couple of shallow friends (Samantha Mathis and Robin Tunney) who talk to her more often than they talk to her, and shoe shopping with a mother who does much of the same, ignoring what Camille wants in favor of her own opinions. So when Camille finds a designer chair that she can't afford, she is drawn to it. She sees the chair for its beauty and, crucially, for its ability to make her feel recognized if she were to own it.
Director: Amanda Kramer
Writer: Amanda Kramer
Stars: Juliette Lewis, Mamoudou Athie, Samantha Mathis
From the beginning, Camille identifies with it. She is convinced that her life is not so bad. She has friends and a home, but she doesn't feel like anyone listens to her beyond superficial trivialities about their own lives. Camille goes unnoticed and unheard. The voice-over narration tells us that she never felt jealousy, until she saw the chair and wanted people to envy her purchase. So captivated by this chair and the potential it holds, that Camille wishes to be a part of it in some way. Her soul molding itself to the chair is an interesting twist; it's also when the story really begins.
I didn't think the ending of the film would be so heartbreaking, but it deviated from my expectations, which further reinforced the message and left me thinking about it.
Kramer enriches the story with performances, while asking us to examine the farce of a life not lived rather than the premise itself. Camille is not very materialistic until she sees the chair, and it is here that the film looks at our inclination toward material goods in the absence of genuine love and care. The chair makes Camille feel good; she is willing to give up her life to become attached to it in some way, to enjoy the love that clearly went into its creation.
When Olivier (Athie), a pianist whose life is also devoid of attention and love, receives the chair as a gift from his ex, Camille feels seen and loved for the first time in her life. Olivier is drawn to the chair like Camille, becoming attached to it in a way that seems strange to others, but which also makes him feel more important but wary when his friends (equally shallow and talkative) lavish him and his chair with attention. Somehow, this object becomes the most important thing in the characters’ lives.
Through a variety of situations—which become more ridiculous as the film progresses—By Design paints a sad satirical portrait of existence: its shallowness and richness, the complexities of people’s lives, and the simple desire to be seen, loved, and cared for without conditions. Camille’s life is richer as a chair; Olivier’s life has more meaning because of it. However, the reality is very different. After all, what is something if we don’t give it meaning? The chair is just a chair, but it has a personality and a life of its own because of the characters. That applies to them as people, too.
Kramer’s use of the chair serves as a good metaphor. Existence can be what you make of it, and feeling ignored in a society that values maintaining performance is isolating. I didn’t think the ending of the film was that heartbreaking, but it deviated from my expectations, which further reinforced the message and left me thinking about it. In many ways, By Design works like a quirky piece of theatre. The film itself is a performance, and Kramer, with the help of good photography, good production design and good costumes, is content to leave parts of the story in the abstract.
By Design won’t be for everyone. It’s less direct and more experimental storytelling, but it’s not so outlandish as to be inaccessible. The dialogue delivery is perhaps the most jarring, but there’s much to appreciate in the performances of Lewis and Athie, in particular, which are, at various points, moving and profound, distant and heartbreakingly complex. In a society that has convinced us that our lives are perfectly fine within the box we’ve locked ourselves into, By Design itself thinks outside the box and does something at once daring, unique and thoughtful.
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