TIFF 2023: Strange Way of Life Review

This will be one of many reviews during this year’s Toronto International Film Festival, to keep up with our latest coverage, click here.

Despite his long-term success both commercially and critically on an international scale, legendary Spanish auteur Pedro Almodóvar has always remained loyal to Spain and has continued to make films in his native tongue. He has a very distinct visual and narrative style that he’s stuck to for the majority of his career, as he often explores queer and maternal relationships through the lens of pastel colours. Almodóvar’s latest short film, Strange Way of Life, sees the auteur finally branching out and crafting something unlike any of his previous films.

Strange Way of Life marks Almodóvar’s first foray into English-language filmmaking, putting his spin on the great American Westerns of the 1940s and 1950s. His specific brand of melodrama and Queer romance is present, but stylistically it is completely different from anything he’s ever crafted. This time around, he replaces the vibrant pastel colors with dust-filled desert landscapes, and small-town shootouts.

It’s admirable to see Almodóvar branch out of his comfort zone and use the short film format to try his hand at crafting a western, a genre that is traditionally the polar opposite of what he’s known for. Unfortunately, Strange Way of Life is a more of a mere curiosity than a success. The film stars Pascal and Hawke as Silva and Jake, two past flames who reunite after twenty-five years due to unfortunate circumstances. Silva travels across the harsh desert to see his past lover, who has now become the sheriff of a town. The two enjoy a passionate reunion, but when Jake realizes that Silva’s return also came with an ulterior motive, they found themselves in a life-or-death situation.

Strange Way of Life may be aesthetically pleasing, but the result is a disappointingly uninspired and stereotypical take on the genre. Despite clocking in at only 31 minutes, the film doesn’t feel like a substantial enough story to sustain its lean runtime. Filled with tired tropes, it fails to subvert the Western formula whatsoever, outside of its Queer central romance.

Hawke and Pascal have electric chemistry and both deliver charismatic performances as grizzled cowboys who reunite decades after a passionate fling. They convey restless longing and the pain that comes with having to fight against someone you deeply love. However, neither character is well fleshed out as the film overly relies on exposition and cliche lines of dialogue to deliver their backstories

In the end, while Strange Way of Life is an interesting experiment that may pique the curiosity of Almodóvar fans, it is far too underdeveloped and skeletal to rank among the upper echelon of his filmography. That being said, it would still be nice to see Almodóvar tackle various other genres through short form filmmaking, but Westerns is certainly one genre that his style doesn’t quite mesh with.

*still courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics*

If you liked this, please read our other reviews here and don’t forget to follow us on Twitter or Instagram or like us on Facebook.

Tristan French