Oscar winner Pedro Almodóvar’s short film Strange Way of Life, which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival earlier this year, is finally coming to theaters and streaming platforms. Sony Pictures Classics is releasing the Western in New York City and Los Angeles on October 4, 2023. It will then expand nationwide on October 6 and then begin to stream on MUBI on October 20.
The film stars Pedro Pascal and Ethan Hawke as a rancher and a sheriff who reunite after working together as hired gunmen 25 years ago. Almodóvar called the film his “answer to Brokeback Mountain.”
During an interview with Flaunt magazine, Pascal called it a “dumb question” when asked if it was easy to act like he was attracted to Hawke while filming the short. “Think about staring into those steel f—ing blue eyes,” Pascal said. “Brown eyes are great! Chocolate chips! But, you know, that steel blue stare of his. Oh god, I don’t mean to make Zoolander references while talking about this film.”
Pascal added: “Whether it’s breaking down tropes that you find in westerns or masculinity, sexuality between men, love. If you’re anchoring yourself to a truthful telling of the story, you’re inherently expressing all of those things honoring them, deconstructing them, questioning them.”
It’s safe to say that there are many moviegoers out there excited about seeing Pascal and Hawke sharing the big screen. “I wanna insert Strange Way of Life directly into my bloodstream as soon as possible,” one social media user said.
When it hits theaters in October, Strange Way of Life will screen as a double feature alongside another of Almodóvar’s short films, his 2020 drama The Human Voice starring Tilda Swinton. Both shorts are Almodóvar’s only two English-language films of his career.
This piece was written during the 2023 WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. Without the labor of the writers and actors currently on strike, Strange Way of Life being covered here wouldn’t exist.