By Design
Music Box Films | Release Date: February 13, 2026 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
63
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 13 Critic Reviews
Positive:
9
Mixed:
4
Negative:
0

Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
80
The Hollywood ReporterJourdain SearlesJan 31, 2025
The insights and artistic inclinations that populate Kramer’s work aren’t for everyone, and there’s a good chance By Design won’t connect with most viewers. But the alienating nature of the premise is what makes it fascinating, pushing us to question how we want to be seen and experienced as people in the world. Read full review
75
RogerEbert.comPeyton RobinsonFeb 13, 2026
Amanda Kramer’s “By Design” is an oddball, almost-love story that has more to say about human dejection and desire than a lot of more conventional tales. Read full review
75
TheWrapChase HutchinsonJan 27, 2025
Rather than serve as a shallowly classical body swap story that provides a moral lesson about her growing to appreciate the life she had, the aftermath of this decision is more thematically complicated and engaging. It’s also sincere, tapping into anxieties about being not just liked or even loved, but truly seen. Read full review
75
IndieWireChristian ZilkoJan 27, 2025
The film often feels as impossible to definitively grasp as the coveted furniture that it follows — but whether that’s a feature or a bug lies in the eye of the beholder. Read full review
75
The A.V. ClubJacob OllerJan 27, 2025
It’s a pointedly strange experience, sometimes annoyingly so and sometimes unexpectedly crushing, but all enjoyably kooky depending on your tolerance for this kind of thing. Read full review
73
Paste MagazineJim VorelFeb 28, 2025
At times, By Design is agonizingly opaque or borderline insufferable in its pretentious indulgences; at other times it’s laugh-out-loud funny as it skewers equally pretentious targets. Read full review
70
Screen RantMae AbdulbakiJan 27, 2025
It’s less of a straightforward narrative and more of an experimental one. But it’s not so outlandish that it’s inaccessible. Read full review
70
IGNKatie RifeJan 27, 2025
It has a wacky premise involving a woman swapping places with a chair, but the uncompromising consumerist satire By Design is more performance art than camp classic. Read full review
63
Slant MagazineWilliam RepassFeb 7, 2026
By forcing us to identify with its largely comatose protagonist, By Design arouses resentment in order to shake us out of torpor. Read full review
60
The New York TimesNatalia WinkelmanFeb 12, 2026
Kramer has constructed an ironically detached artifact that invites questions about ownership and image and then bats them away, making it a frustrating experience with an intriguing veneer. Read full review
55
The Daily BeastNick SchagerJan 23, 2025
Those with a hankering for willfully pretentious absurdity may find this festival entry right up their alley. Read full review
50
The Film StageJohn FinkFeb 5, 2025
Inspired by objectification, By Design, by design, tests the patience of viewers via Kramer’s precise direction and controlled mise-en-scène, designed by Grace Surnow and photographed by Patrick Meade Jones––unfortunately, the challenge never feels rewarding. Perhaps that’s the point: aspirational luxury sells the sizzle, not the steak. Read full review
50
ColliderMatt DonatoJan 27, 2025
Kramer plays with surreal department store catalog visuals and body-swap quirkiness, leaning heavily on interpretive dance to convey meaning. There's nothing like it, but with such extravagant boldness comes risks, and they don’t always pay off. Read full review
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