By Design review
A musician becomes obsessed with the haunted seat, but the potentially hilarious premise sleepwalks its way to an unsatisfying conclusion
TL;DR
- Amanda Kramer's film "By Design" has a strange and potentially hilarious premise about a woman turning into a chair.
- The film stars Juliette Lewis as a depressed single woman who becomes catatonic as her spirit supposedly transfers into a chair.
- Mamoudou Athie plays a musician who becomes obsessed with the chair, which was given to him as a guilt offering.
- The comic or erotic potential of the premise is neglected, and the film is described as an unbearable absurdist drama.
- The film's conclusion is unsatisfying, with the director's signature dreamy, Lynchian drift failing to engage the audience.