Strange Way of Life: First trailer for Almodóvar’s queer Western short film
The first look at Pedro Almodóvar’s upcoming queer western, Strange Way of Life, is finally here! Expected to premiere at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival in May, the thirty-minute short film features Pedro Pascal (The Last of Us) and Ethan Hawke (Moon Knight) as two men who meet again after more than two decades in the midst of a volatile Western context.
“A man (Pascal) rides a horse across the desert that separates him from Bitter Creek. He comes to visit Sheriff Jake (Hawke).” Almodóvar explained the plot in a statement shared by the Cannes Film Festival, “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….”
Almodovar didn’t want to reveal more details about the film so as not to spoil all the surprises, but he did share that the film’s title alludes to Amalia Rodrigues’ famous fado (destiny in Portuguese), whose words suggest that there is no more strange existence than the one you live by turning your back on your own desires.
In addition to Ethan Hawke and Pedro Pascal, the rest of the cast of Strange Way of Life features Manu Ríos (Élite), José Condessa, Jason Fernández, Sara Sálamo, Erenice Lohan, Pedro Casablanca, George Steane and Daniel Rived.
Shot in the Tabernas desert in Almería, Spain, the film is written and directed by Almodóvar himself, produced by Agustín Almodóvar (of the production company El Deseo), executive produced by Esther García, and scored by Alberto Iglesias.
This is Pedro Almodóvar’s second experience in English, after his short film The Human Voice (2020), starring Tilda Swinton, had its world premiere at the 77th Venice International Film Festival on September 3, 2020.
Strange Way of Life will premiere at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival on May 26. Follow us on Twitter and Instagram for all queer stuff!
Featured image: Image Courtesy of El Deseo
