The Western genre dominated cinema during the Golden era of the 1940s to 1960s. During then, roughened cowboys, gun-slinging action, and the lawless world were all the rage for audiences. As cinema evolved, it now seems to be a classic and dated genre that simply translates to a generic costume idea. But surprisingly, Western films have come to the forefront of modern cinema once more in recent times, with notable films in the past decade like Chloé Zhao‘s The Rider, Jeymes Samuel‘s The Harder They Fall, and Jane Campion‘s The Power of the Dog bringing the genre back better than ever. Adding to this expansive list of Western projects with a refreshing take is prolific Spanish filmmaker Pedro Almodóvar with his short film Strange Way of Life.
The project was first announced in late June 2022 with Pedro Pascal (The Mandalorian) and Ethan Hawke (Before Sunrise) cast as the leads. The Western short began filming the following month with Almodóvar’s production team and company El Deseo. This marks his second English language project after his 2020 short film The Human Voice starring Tilda Swinton (Snowpiercer). Clocking in with a 31-minute runtime, Strange Way of Life was submitted for several prominent film festivals including Cannes, Sydney Film Festival, and Lima Film Festival. Soon, it will be made widely available for all audiences to watch. Before you saddle up your horses and polish your pistols, make sure to read the following guide that includes everything we know about Strange Way of Life.
When Is ‘Strange Way of Life’ Coming Out?
The short film premiered at the 76th Cannes Film Festival earlier this year on May 17. It was also selected to screen at the Toronto International Film Festival as part of a conversation event with director Pedro Almodóvar on September 9. After the circuit of film festivals, Strange Way of Life will have a theatrical release beginning in New York and Los Angeles on October 4, 2023, before expanding to a nationwide release in the US on October 6.
Where Can You Watch ‘Strange Way of Life’?
As mentioned, the short film will be released in U.S. cinemas. Through Sony Pictures Classics, the theatrical release pairs the project with Almodóvar’s previous short film The Human Voice. An announcement is yet to be made about when Strange Way of Life will be available to stream. Until then, stay tuned for more updates on this page.
Watch the Trailer for ‘Strange Way of Life’
The trailer for Strange Way of Life was first released on April 26 in the lead-up to the short film’s world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival. The quick but snappy trailer offers the traditional Western elements of cowboy hats, ranches, horses, and guns. Beyond the cowboy action is the simmering tension between Pascal’s Silva and Hawke’s Jake who have a shared romantic history that stems from their youthful days. The trailer ends with Silva posing the unaddressed question of what their relationship remains to be.
When and Where Did ‘Strange Way of Life’ Film?
The central location of filming was in southern Spain, including the desert region of Tabernas in Almeria where production began in August 2022. Filming wrapped by early September 2022, as announced on Ethan Hawke’s Instagram page.
Who’s In the Cast of ‘Strange Way of Life’?
The short film is led by Pedro Pascal and Ethan Hawke, who play gunslingers Silva and Jake respectively. Pascal is a widely popular actor who has been on major franchises like Game of Thrones, The Mandalorian, and his most recent Emmy-nominated role in The Last of Us. His other upcoming projects include Ridley Scott‘s Gladiator 2 and Ethan Coen‘s Drive-Away Dolls. Hawke is a long-time actor who is best known for his roles in films from the 90s like Dead Poets Society, Before Sunrise, and Gattaca. He recently starred in Moon Knight, The Northman, and The Black Phone. Hawke’s next projects will be the Netflix drama film Leave the World Behind and the biographical drama Wildcat, where he will direct his daughter Maya Hawke (Stranger Things).
Joining them in the cast are a number of talented actors including José Condessa (Bem Me Quer) and Jason Fernández (Welcome to Eden), who will play the younger versions of Silva and Jake. Pedro Casablanc (Plastic Sea) plays the Carpenter, Sara Sálamo (Everybody Knows) portrays Conchita, and Manu Ríos (Elite) plays the Singer. George Steane, Ohiana Cueto, and Daniela Medina round out the cast as Joe, Calixta, and Patricia respectively.
Who’s Making ‘Strange Way of Life’?
Pedro Almodóvar is the director and writer of the Western short film. The Spanish filmmaker won an Oscar in 2003 for his original screenplay Talk To Her. His repertoire of feature films includes The Skin I Live In, Pain and Glory, and Parallel Mothers. The film is produced by Almodóvar’s frequent collaborators on his past projects, Esther García and his brother, Augustin Almodóvar. Anthony Vaccarello joins the project as an associate producer and costume designer in collaboration with Yves Saint Laurent. The cinematography was done by José Luis Alcaine (Volver) while the short film was edited by Teresa Font (Creditors).
What’s the Plot of ‘Strange Way of Life’ About?
Almodóvar shared in an interview in April that the film’s title is based on the song “Extraña forma de vida” sung by Amália Rodrigues and bears some deep meaning to the plot of the film, saying, “The strange way of life referred in the title alludes to the famous fado by Amalia Rodrigues, whose lyrics suggest that there is no stranger existence than the one that is lived by turning your back on your own desires.” These “desires” within the short film refer to the central relationship of Silva and Jake who are shown to be former lovers.
It is often a rarity to see LGBTQ+ relationships represented in the Western genre as the traditional themes and images revolve around masculinity or gruff, heterosexual men. Ang Lee‘s Brokeback Mountain was one of the earliest films to break the mold by portraying a gay romance in a Western-type setting. Almodóvar has also commented on how he subverts the genre with his short film’s queer love story after appearing on Dua Lipa‘s podcast. He shared that the short is a “queer Western, in the sense that there are two men and they love each other” and that “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.”
The official synopsis from the Sony Pictures Classics website reads as follows:
A man rides a horse across the desert that separates him from Bitter Creek. He comes to visit Sheriff Jake. Twenty-five years earlier, both the sheriff and Silva, the rancher who rides out to meet him, worked together as hired gunmen. Silva visits him with the excuse of reuniting with his friend from his youth, and they do indeed celebrate their meeting, but the next morning Sheriff Jake tells him that the reason for his trip is not to go down the memory lane of their old friendship.
