Strange Way of Life () is a 2023 English-language Spanish Western drama short film written and directed by Pedro Almodóvar. It stars Ethan Hawke and Pedro Pascal as two gunslingers who reunite many years later. The film marks Almodóvar's sophomore English-language effort, following The Human Voice (2020).  

Strange Way of Life premiered at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival on 17 May 2023. It will be released in the United States on 6 October 2023 by Sony Pictures Classics.

Synopsis
After 25 years, Silva rides a horse across the desert to visit his friend Sheriff Jake. They celebrate the meeting, but the next morning, Jake tells him that the reason for his trip is not to go down the memory lane of their friendship.

Cast

Production
Principal photography took place in Southern Spain in August 2022, in the Tabernas Desert section of Almería. A Strange Way of Life is the title of an old Portuguese fado song by Amália Rodrigues. The filming took place with Pedro Almodóvar's own production company El Deseo in conjunction with Yves Saint Laurent, whose head designer Anthony Vaccarello was also an associate producer and the film's costume designer. In September, Hawke confirmed, via Instagram, that the production had wrapped filming. Almódovar worked with recurring collaborators such as José Luis Alcaine (cinematography) and Alberto  Iglesias (music) whilst Teresa Font took over film editing.

Speaking on the Dua Lipa podcast, the director was quoted as saying "it's 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."

Release
Strange Way of Life premiered at the 76th Cannes Film Festival on 17 May 2023. BTeam released the film in Spanish theatres on 26 May 2023. Mubi is set to distribute the film in Italy and Latin America, while Pathé will release it in the United Kingdom. Sony Pictures Classics will release 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 invited to the 27th Lima Film Festival in the Acclaimed section, where it was screened on 13 August 2023.

In advance of its North American release, it is slated to screen at the 2023 Toronto International Film Festival as part of a special In Conversation event with Almodóvar.

Reception 
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 73% of 30 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 7.20/10. Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian described the film in his four-star review as "a queer western with a hint of kink", adding that "there is some very robust and old-fashioned storytelling here and Strange Way of Life feels quite old-fashioned in its way."  of Variety called it "a glorified fashion commercial" for Yves Saint-Laurent, commenting that "the use of models instead of actors betrays what this really is: a branding exercise, both for Almodóvar and costumier Vaccarello, plus two stars eager to show their allyship." Pete Hammond of Deadline praised Hawke and Pascal for bringing "authenticity and a believable lived-in feel to their characters and this relationship", while David Fear of the Rolling Stone reviewed Strange Way of Life as "a provocative movie that brings out the best in both of its leads".

Accolades

References

External links 
 

Films directed by Pedro Almodóvar
Films produced by Agustín Almodóvar
Films scored by Alberto Iglesias
English-language Spanish films
Spanish drama films
Spanish short films
El Deseo films
2020s English-language films
2020s American films
2023 Western (genre) films
2023 LGBT-related films
American LGBT-related short films
Spanish LGBT-related films
LGBT-related drama films
American Western (genre) films
Spanish Western (genre) films
Sony Pictures Classics films
2023 short films