By Design Movie Review

This is very strange, watching a woman be more accepted as a chair than a human, but that’s not a warning; it’s to let you know you’re in for something truly rare. Make time for this. If you like surrealist art, you won’t regret it.

Having people sit on us makes us useful. There’s a reason we exist. That’s what’s going on in this story. Juliette Lewis plays Camille, a woman who has nothing in life but semi-regular meetings with two friends, Lisa (Samantha Mathis) and Irene (Robin Tunney). Our narrator, Melanie Griffith, shares her favorite quote: “Resentment is like drinking poison and waiting for the other person to die.” This quote comes up again later in the film.

Camille is detached from her circumstances. She’s passionless, and it shows. She needs something to make her feel good. On the day we meet her, her friends, who don’t have room for any more things if they were to buy something, get her out to go shopping. The three of them go to a chic furniture store to stare at furniture, zeroing in on chairs they can’t afford. They see a wooden chair, a “stunner,” that they want, in particular because buying it would be punching above their station, which is fun. What’s the point of having something if it isn’t to show off… especially if there is only one? That makes this chair all the more special. You have something no one else has.

But it’s Camille who truly must have this chair. She needs it because she envies how everyone loves its beauty, its usefulness, and its deserving of praise. No one values her as much as everyone would cherish this wooden chair. It would be nice to be like it… or be it. The salesperson doesn’t seem to care whether they buy, well, anything, which makes the requirement of it being in Camille’s life that much more critical. She has to go home and find out if it’s something she can truly afford, and she hopes, prays, wishes, it’ll be there the next morning. The dialogue around this is exquisite, mostly in how all the actors seem to be muted, like reading their lines for the first time, on purpose. It’s odd, but it works.

The next morning, someone had purchased the chair before Camille could get to it. She’s distraught. She wishes she had the chair. She wishes she were loved as much as that chair. She wishes and prays and wishes and now a Freaky Friday, Big type switch happens. Her spirit is in the chair. Olivier (Mamoudou Athie), the man who bought her, hugs his new chair and sits in it. He recently lost his only love, now having this chair is a fine replacement. And Camille loves the weight of his body, enjoying being valuable to him. There’s a scene with a woman stumbling around in an alley, wanting to be a useful… couch. When in doubt, be furniture. You might be a “one and only” and be even more unique.

Camille has never been embraced like this before. The chair has a life about it that Olivier seems to feel. He loves his new chair. But Camille now lies around her house, not moving, not eating, not blinking, just existing, as a wooden chair would. Her mom visits her, not even noticing Camille is not active. She orders her around like usual. Everyone in her life dismisses her need to be cared for. She has a deep desire to be loved by anyone. Being a chair is better than life, even when an attempt is made to take her body without her permission. It’s her actual body he wants, not her soul, maybe she’s worth something after all? Watch to see how this ends, don’t find out ahead of time.

I can see this working better as a play. Knowing an actor has to play a chair every night would be spectacular. As it is, the movie, thankfully under two hours, a rarity these days, is appealing enough to be fascinating, keeping you curious as to how it’ll end. Lewis is wonderful, not that I doubted her. Knowing she’s a part of it gives you all the reason you need to watch. You won’t be disappointed, but you won’t love the movie. Perhaps streaming is the better way to go.