Strange Way of Life Movie Review

Strange Way of Life [Extraña forma de vida] (2023)

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Written by: Pedro Almodóvar
Directed by: Pedro Almodóvar
Starring: Ethan Hawke, Pedro Pascal
Rated: R
Watch the trailer

Plot
Silva rides a horse across the desert to visit his friend Sheriff Jake who he hasn't seen in twenty-five years. They celebrate the meeting, but Jake realizes this isn't a visit to reminiscence about the past.

Verdict
It's short and focused on a story to which we only see the conclusion. I appreciate that Almodóvar forwent the feature length to focus on the narrative. That's the art to this. He doesn't try to lengthen it, leaving you wanting more instead of wishing it was shorter. This is a love story about what was, what could have been, and the reality of the situation. At this point, hope has vanished and all's that left is the memory. It's a touching tale that refrains from going 'Hollywood.'
Watch It.

Review
Almodóvar's movies are often contemplative like Pain and Glory or All About My Mother.

I was surprised this was a short, expecting something feature length. I appreciate he didn't try to lengthen it for mass appeal. The story generates a lot of questions, but the focus is clear. Two friends that haven't seen each other in twenty five years meet. Why has it been so long? Jake (Ethan Hawke) soon realizes the reason for Silva's (Pedro Pascal) visit. While they have a past, this meeting is about the present.

Ethan Hawke, Pedro Pascal play Sheriff Jake, Silva

This does remind me of Brokeback Mountain, but it's also very different. It's a neat story that packs a lot into a short length. There's just as much happening between the lines as what we see because this leaves a lot to the imagination. While it seems short and a bit rushed, watching this it feels like the perfect length. The movie explored the idea it wanted. It's very purposeful with no filler. This easily could have been stretched to feature length, but Almodóvar chose not to. I appreciate the story came first, and he didn't try to make it feature length which surely would have been more attractive to distribute. We're so used to feature length movies. Short films are usually relegated to Youtube or some other narrow distribution. This does more in thirty minutes than many movies do in three times the length.