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Strange Way of Life

Extraña forma de vida

2023

Pedro Almodóvar

Ethan Hawke, Pedro Pascal, Jason Fernández, José Condessa ...

6.0

3,767

Western A man crosses the desert that separates him from Bitter Creek. He comes to visit the Sheriff Jake. Twenty-five years before, both - the Sheriff and Silva, the rancher- worked together as salary gunmen. Silva comes with the pretext of reuniting with his youth friend, and in effect they celebrate his encounter, but the next morning the Sheriff Jake tells him that the reason for his trip is not the memory of his old friendship.

	Author	Review
United Kingdom	Peter Bradshaw The Guardian	"There is some very robust and old-fashioned storytelling here and Strange Way of Life feels quite old-fashioned in its way. It’s certainly good to see Almodóvar back in the saddle at Cannes. (...) Rating: ★★★★ (out of 5)"	POS
United States	David Fear Rolling Stone	"Strange Way of Life is what happens when a master filmmaker remembers a line from a famous film he passed on making (...) and decides to finally gift us with his version of Brokeback Mountain (...) As a 30-minute short. Perhaps there is a God after all."	POS
United States	Kyle Turner Slant	"Its attractive desert vistas notwithstanding, the short is about as substantial as one would expect from a glorified commercial by a haute couture house. Its meta-narrative is the most interesting thing about it (...) Rating: ★★ (out of 4)"	NEU
United States	Peter Debruge Variety	"An under-developed addition to the Spanish director’s oeuvre"	NEG
United Kingdom	Lee Marshall Screendaily	"There is both passion and tenderness in this lovingly-shot queer Western"	POS
United States	Anna Bogutskaya The Playlist	"Terrific Western (...) A queer take on a genre that has historically avoided explicitly centering gay love."	POS
United States	David Ehrlich IndieWire	"A fleeting but florid Western"	NEU
United States	David Rooney The Hollywood Reporter	"For that reason alone, queer audiences especially — but not exclusively — should celebrate this precious gift from one of the undisputed greats"	POS
United States	Stephen Garrett The New York Observer	"The richly acted, sumptuously photographed [film] lives up to its title as a revisionist Western that embraces its classical genre roots while also carving out a very modern way of looking at the past"	POS
United States	Richard Lawson Vanity Fair	"It's a kick to see Almodóvar's gay gaze applied to a Western, though at only 31 minutes, the film leaves us wanting quite a lot more. One hopes that this might be a mere demo reel for a full feature film"	POS
United States	Pete Hammond Deadline	"Homage To Classic Westerns (...) Almodovar isn’t setting out to rewrite the rules of westerns with this, but he is adding a new chapter that somehow feels just right, in no small part to his two leads."	POS
United Kingdom	Jo-Ann Titmarsh London Evening Standard	"With a little more substance to match the superficial loveliness, this could have been a great half-hour (...) Rating: ★★ (out of 5)"	NEU
United Kingdom	Robbie Collin Telegraph	"Easy-going, middlingly raunchy arthouse fun (...) Rating: ★★★ (out of 5)"	POS
United States	Brian Tallerico rogerebert.com	"Almodóvar has been a master for generations now, and has reached a point where everything he does is worth a look. Whatever the language, genre, or run-time, Almodóvar brings cinema to life (...) Rating: ★★★ (out of 4)"	POS
United States	Murtada Elfadl AV Club	"While there are a few joys to be had here, none of that, which distinguishes his films, is evident here"	NEU
United States	Lex Briscuso SlashFilm	"A delicate glimpse into the complicated emotional life of two men"	POS
United States	Therese Lacson Collider	"Almodóvar's dialogue often feels repetitive, but when paired with his distinct colorful visual style and camera work, it meshes together well"	NEU
United States	Michael O'Sullivan The Washington Post	"Good, but not nearly long enough (...) Rating: ★★½ (out of 5)"	NEU
United Kingdom	Tom Shone The Sunday Times	"One of those shorts that leaves you wanting more, but in a good way. The theme, after all, is longing and curtailed appetite"	POS
United States	Siddhant Adlakha Mashable	"What truly sells the film is Hawke's thoughtful, deeply layered performance"	POS
United Kingdom	Kevin Maher The Times	"It's juicy material, impeccably handled by the two leads (...) Rating: ★★★★ (out of 5)"	POS
United Kingdom	Ian Freer Time Out	"The filmmaking is impeccable, Almodóvar's regular composer Alberto Iglesias providing menace and melodrama in equal measure (...) Rating: ★★★★ (out of 5)"	POS
United Kingdom	Tori Brazier Metro	"Good things come in small packages thanks to Pedro Pascal and Ethan Hawke's chemistry (...) Rating: ★★★★ (out of 5)"	POS

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