Strange Way of Life

Pedro Almodovar – 2023 – Spain 

Pedro Almodovar is in my top handful of favorite living directors, so I was primed to see this short film, his second in three years and his second ever in English. The rich color in the production design and cinematography are as vivid as in all his films, always a welcome pleasure, but in general it’s hard to invest as a viewer the way you’re accustomed to doing with Almodovar films when it’s only half-an-hour long, mostly because it’s hard to believe he was that invested in it himself. It feels like an easy side project to tackle in between features, and little of it feels like a story he was longing to tell, especially since he’s never expressed any interest, as far as I know, in westerns or in period films. There’s a ton of dialogue for such a short film, and it’s hard not to wonder how capable Almodovar felt in communicating in English. There is also something a little trite about using the premise of gay cowboys, which has been done often enough in both comedy and drama for different effects. Since it’s so short, there’s little time for the two main characters to be defined by anything other than their sexual identities, even though the pathos of their past difficult decisions is real and valid. Pedro Pascal and Ethan Hawke are both great, and seem game to give their all in a moving story told by one of our great filmmakers, but I think they’re let down somewhat by Almodovar’s breezy attitude.