Strange Way of Life (2023 | USA | 31 minutes | Pedro Almodóvar)
Set in the old west, a small and somewhat peaceful town sees a stranger walk straight down Main and into the sheriff’s office. Sheriff Jake (Ethan Hawke) hesitates only a moment before granting a warm greeting to his old friend Silva (Pedro Pascal). The energy between them becomes more intense and while the old friends reminisce, the Sheriff knows there’s more to this reunion than a wish to see each other again after so many years. Emotional and physical chaos brings things to a head, and you wonder if their relationship can survive it.
At just over thirty minutes long, Strange Way of Life makes easy work of creating a world all on its own that is easy to fall into and soon you forget that the film starts in the middle of a story. Like any good short, the before and after are a bit of a mystery and almost unimportant as the real entertainment is in the moment, what you see and feel from the characters and how it leaves you when the credits roll. I enjoyed it, but if I had any complaints it was that both Hawke and Pascal took a few minutes to warm up, almost like they didn’t know how to get started. The performance was lackluster until about minute 5 to 10, after that it was a road paved in gold. One other caveat, despite its short run time, it looks like the cost to see is still the price of a regular film… so feel this one out and maybe you’ll catch it on the small screen later.
To check out what my fellow SunBreaker Josh thought after seeing it at Telluride, head over to his review.
Strange Way of Life arrives in theaters on 10/5.
This piece was written during the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike. Without the labor of the actors currently on strike, the film being covered here wouldn’t exist. More information about the strikes can be found on the SAG-AFTRA Strike hubs. Donations to support striking workers can be made at the Entertainment Community Fund.