Pedro Pascal and Ethan Hawke’s Queer Cowboy Film Coming to Cannes
Pedro Almodóvar's short Western stars Pascal and Hawke as two hired guns in a romantic relationship that's rekindled after years apart.
Get ready to saddle up for a new ride with Pedro Almodóvar’s latest queer-centric film, “Strange Way of Life,” which has been confirmed to premiere at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival.
The half-hour western drama generated buzz when it was first announced months ago.
For a while, there were rumors that it would open the festival, though a representative for the event denied them. Although it won’t be the first showing of the festival, it will certainly be one of the most closely watched, as it has already been talked about more than most short films due to its subject matter and the stars attached.
The festival has confirmed that Almodóvar will attend the premiere with his two lead actors, Ethan Hawke and Pedro Pascal. The screening will be followed immediately by a conversation with the filmmaking team.
“Strange Way of Life” focuses on the bond between two men who met as young hired gunmen, develop a romance, and reconnect 25 years later. According to Almodóvar, the film is a “queer Western, in the sense that there are two men and they love each other,” which he shared during an interview on Dua Lipa’s “At Your Service” podcast in December 2022.
The short movie’s poster was released recently, and it shows both stars in a colorful and almost cartoon-y-looking backdrop.
First poster for Pedro Almodóvar’s queer Western short ‘STRANGE WAY OF LIFE’, starring Pedro Pascal and Ethan Hawke. pic.twitter.com/M9BLnbfsGu
— DiscussingFilm (@DiscussingFilm) April 11, 2023
The film’s title, as explained by Almodóvar, “alludes to the famous fado by Amalia Rodrigues, whose lyrics suggest that there is no stranger existence than the one that is lived by turning your back on your own desires.”
Because of the topic explored in “Strange Way of Life,” the film has been compared to Brokeback Mountain, which Almodóvar was originally in the running to direct, though he turned it down. The director stated during a conversation with IndieWire:
“I think Ang Lee made a wonderful movie, but I never believed that they would give me complete freedom and independence to make what I wanted,” Almodóvar told IndieWire. “Nobody told me that — they said, ‘You can do whatever you want,’ but I knew that there was a limitation.”
“Strange Way of Life” marks Almodóvar’s second English-language short film, following “The Human Voice,” which was released in 2020.
In addition to its premiere at Cannes, “Strange Way of Life” has secured its first deal with indie distributor MUBI, which has acquired all rights for Italy and Latin America.
The film will also be released in the U.K. by Pathe.
Pascal is having the biggest moment of his career thanks to his appearances in blockbuster TV shows such as The Mandalorian and The Last of Us, and his starpower is helping to elevate the production.
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