There aren’t many directors who would attract paying audiences to the cinemas for a 31-minute film. Spanish maestro Pedro Almódovar, however, is one. His second English-language short, following 2020’s The Human Voice with Tilda Swinton, his playful take on a Jean Cocteau story, this is a queer western starring Ethan Hawke and Pedro Pascal. Set in Bitter Creek, Hawke plays the town’s sheriff Jake, who is seeking out a murderer when he is shocked by an arrival from his past. 

A cowboy he once had a fling with, Silva (Pascal) still has feelings for the lawman. But to muddy the waters further, Silva’s son Joe (George Steane) is the chief suspect in Jake’s search for this killer. So goes the set up for Almódovar’s measured, mini horse-opera, one that bears some comparisons to Ang Lee’s gay cowboy tale Brokeback Mountain (a film Almódovar was once close to making). Here, women are largely absent in a world where fighting and sex aren’t so far apart.

Typically stylish (Almódovar has collaborated here on the design elements with Anthony Vaccarello, the creative director at Yves Saint Laurent), Strange Way Of Life shines in part thanks to Hawke and Pascal. The two actors complement each other perfectly, and it’s particularly pleasing to see Pascal take on a riskier role than his heroic gunslingers in The Mandalorian and The Last Of Us. Arriving in cinemas for one night only, the short is followed by an Almódovar Q&A and is a genuine must for fans of this cinematic sharpshooter.

Strange Way Of Life is in cinemas on Monday 25 September only.