Strange Way of Life, the latest offering from Spanish filmmaker Pedro Almodóvar, will be making its way onto Netflix this year.
The short film premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in 2023 to significant acclaim before being released on selected streaming services such as MUBI.
However, Netflix users will now be able to stream the queer western from April 12th onwards. With a runtime of just 31 minutes, there’s no reason not to explore the reunion of Pedro Pascal’s Silva and Ethan Hawke’s Sheriff Jake, who were once gunslingers and lovers.
The pair meet again after 25 years when the man accused of murdering Jake’s sister-in-law turns out to be Silva’s son. The resulting drama is a rich exploration of a relationship which never materialised into something bigger – they both dreamt of owning a ranch together.
Vivid and intimate, Strange Way of Life is a compact story that emphasises Almodóvar’s greatness, excelling despite this only being his second attempt at making a movie in English.
Almodóvar explained that the movie is a contemporary reimagining of the classic western genre, something that has always been associated with male characters. Many modern viewers have identified queer undertones in classic westerns, but censorship and homophobic attitudes during this Hollywood Golden era prevented the creation of explicitly queer westerns.
The filmmaker told Indie Wire, “When the Western hit the scene, it was really its own aesthetic, a language. It is a very macho or masculine genre. With the exception of something like Johnny Guitar, women are always like secondary characters.”
He added, “The characters are more naked with their words than they would be if you saw their bodies. Of course, I’m not thinking about Puritan audiences. I never am.”
After making his first short film, Film político, in 1974, Almodóvar would debut his debut feature, Pepi, Luci, Bom, six years later. The movie’s transgressive themes helped establish the filmmaker as a polarising new talent, and he would continue to receive simultaneous praise and criticism over the coming years as he explored unconventional depictions of femininity, sexuality and family.
1988’s Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown exposed Almodóvar to a broader audience, allowing him to rise to international prominence. Other highly acclaimed credits of his include All About My Mother, Volver, The Skin I Live In, and his most recent feature, Parallel Mothers.
Strange Way of Life comes to Netflix on April 12th. Watch the trailer below.
