Upon seeing a gorgeous chair in a showroom, Camille (Juliette Lewis) realises that she truly envies the life of this perfect piece of furniture. If only she could be someone’s favourite thing. When she and the chair swap forms, Camille learns that she is better liked as an inanimate object than she was as a person: her mother (Betty Buckley) finds her to be a better listener, and her best friends (Samantha Mathis and Robin Tunney) enjoy a newfound, friction-free rapport. As the chair, Camille is unable to speak or move and winds up in the hands of Olivier (Mamoudou Athie), a minimalist bachelor who gradually becomes romantically fixated on his elegant new possession.

Narrated by Melanie Griffith, this modern fable celebrates the messiness of female interiority with deadpan humour, surrealist flourishes, and interpretative dance numbers. An absurdist spin on the body-swap comedy, By Design is a bold new work from singular filmmaker Amanda Kramer.