Last night at SIFF Cinema Uptown I watched By Design, and I’m still trying to put words around it — which honestly feels like the point.
Directed by Amanda Kramer, this surreal, quietly unsettling film takes a premise that sounds almost absurd on paper, a woman slowly transforming into a chair, and turns it into something unexpectedly intimate. Juliette Lewis brings this raw, searching energy to the role, while Mamoudou Athie and Udo Kier orbit her in ways that feel both grounding and disorienting at the same time.
What struck me most is how the film leans into stillness. It’s not loud or explosive, it’s patient, almost hypnotic, letting you sit with discomfort and interpretation. It becomes less about what’s literally happening and more about how we define ourselves, how we’re seen, and how easily a person can fade into the background of their own life. Watching it at SIFF with a quiet, attentive crowd made it even more immersive. You could feel everyone leaning into the strangeness together, trying to make sense of it in real time. It’s not a film that hands you answers. It’s one that lingers.
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