Strange Way of Life () is a 2023 Spanish Western drama short film written and directed by Pedro Almodóvar. It stars Ethan Hawke and Pedro Pascal as two gunslingers who reunite after twenty-five years. The film marks Almodóvar's second English-language effort, following The Human Voice (2020).
Strange Way of Life premiered at the Cannes Film Festival on 17 May 2023. It was released theatrically in Spain on 26 May 2023 by BTeam Pictures.
Plot
After twenty-five years apart, Silva rides a horse across the desert to visit his friend Sheriff Jake. Jake has been informed that his brother's wife has been murdered, and the suspect, her violent boyfriend Joe, was last seen leaving her home. Sworn to look after his brother's wife, Jake takes it upon himself to arrest her killer personally. He is surprised when Silva shows up, and the two have dinner and reminisce about their youth before having sex. The next morning, Silva tries to remind Jake of his idea of the two of them owning a ranch together, but Jake rebuffs him, accusing Silva of trying to use him: Joe is Silva's son, and he suspects Silva has only arrived into town now after being gone for twenty-five years to help Joe escape. They argue and Silva leaves to find Joe. Jake follows him and the two men separately recall an afternoon in their youth when they first made love.
The next day, Silva locates Joe in his home and angrily excoriates him, giving him just enough money and a horse to cross to Mexico, telling him to never return. Jake surprises Joe and the two fight, until they both pull their guns out on one another. Silva pulls a rifle on Joe, warning him not to shoot Jake and to take the horse and go. He does so, but as Jake moves to fire on Joe, Silva shoots Jake clean through the side. He drags Jake into the house and tends to his wound, telling him the shot was clean and that he will be fine. Jake says he will have Silva arrested for attempted murder, but Silva counters that his obvious tending to Jake's wounds would throw that motive out. As they sit there, Silva recalls that Jake once asked him what two men could possibly do together on a ranch alone, and Silva tells him that they could take care of one another.
Cast
Production
In June 2022, it was announced that Ethan Hawke and Pedro Pascal would star in Pedro Almodóvar's short film A Strange Way of Life. It is produced by Almodóvar's El Deseo in association with Yves Saint Laurent, whose head designer Anthony Vaccarello also served as an associate producer and the film's costume designer. Almódovar worked with recurring collaborators such as cinematographer José Luis Alcaine and composer Alberto Iglesias, whilst Teresa Font took over film editing. The film is titled after a 1960s Portuguese fado song by Amália Rodrigues.
Speaking on Dua Lipa's podcast At Your Service, Almodóvar described the film as "a queer Western, in the sense that there are two men and they love each other. It's about masculinity in a deep sense because the Western is a male genre. What I can tell you about the film is that it has a lot of the elements of the Western. It has the gunslinger, it has the ranch, it has the sheriff, but what it has that most Westerns don't have is the kind of dialogue that I don't think a Western film has ever captured between two men."
Principal photography began in August 2022 in Southern Spain, in the Tabernas Desert section of Almería, and wrapped in September.
Release
Strange Way of Life premiered at the Cannes Film Festival on 17 May 2023. The film was released theatrically in Spain on 26 May 2023 by BTeam Pictures. Mubi is set to distribute the film in Italy and Latin America, while Pathé will release it in the United Kingdom. Sony Pictures Classics released the film in the United States on 6 October 2023 and will also be releasing it in all other markets excluding France, Belgium and Switzerland as well as markets already acquired by BTeam, Mubi and Pathé. It was also screened in the Acclaimed section of the 27th Lima Film Festival on 13 August 2023.
In advance of its North American release, the film was screened at the 2023 Toronto International Film Festival in September as part of a special "In Conversation With..." event with Almodóvar.
Reception
Critical response
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 74% based on 85 reviews, with an average rating of 6.9/10. The website's critics consensus reads, "A tantalizing glimpse of the bond between two people, the well-acted Strange Way of Life adds a brief but still rewarding chapter to Pedro Almodóvar's filmography."