Pedro Almodóvar’s ‘Strange Way of Life’ Gets World Premiere at Cannes Film Festival

Almodovar will attend the world premiere with his two leading men, Ethan Hawke and Pedro Pascal

Strange Way of Life
Ethan Hawke and Pedro Pascal in "Strange Way of Life"

Pedro Almodóvar’s “Strange Way of Life” will have its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival in the Official Selection, the festival announced on Tuesday.

Almodovar will attend the world premiere with his two leading men, Ethan Hawke and Pedro Pascal.

Described as a Western filmed in the south of Spain, this short film is the filmmaker’s second experience in English, after “The Human Voice” made in 2020.

The screening will be followed by a conversation with Pedro Almodóvar and the filmmaking team.

The synopsis is as follows: A man rides a horse across the desert that separates him from Bitter Creek. He comes to visit Sheriff Jake. 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….

Along with Hawke and Pascal, the short also stars Pedro Casablanc, Manu Ríos, George Steane, José Condessa, Jason Fernández, Sara Sálamo, Ohiana Cueto and Daniela Medina.

“I must say no more so as not to give away all the surprises of the script,” Almodóvar added in a statement. “The strange way of life referred in the title 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.”

The film is produced by Agustín Almodóvar with Esther García as executive producer and Bárbara Peiró, Diego Pajuelo and Saint Laurent by Anthony Vaccarello as associate producers.

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