Throughout the brisk half hour of Pedro Almodóvar’s newest short film “Strange Way of Life,” there’s always a feeling that something is off. This feeling doesn’t stem from anything the short does with its storytelling — it’s a straightforward romance between two men who can’t be together — but there’s something about the rhythms of the dialogue and the cutting that makes everything jarring.
Perhaps this is intentional from Almodóvar, whose storytelling rhythms are typically incredibly engaging even if the subject matter is not, but the purpose isn’t entirely clear if this is the case. It’s possible to attribute the strange pacing to Almodóvar jumping from his native language to English, but the outstanding Tilda Swinton starring short “The Human Voice” suggests the filmmaker has a strong enough grasp of the language to make something powerful and provocative.
There are hints of that emotional power in “Strange Way of Life,” mainly shining through the performances of the two leads. Though their chemistry isn’t strong, Ethan Hawke and Pedro Pascal individually give great performances. Hawke is playing the more gruff, repressed sheriff and he succeeds in creating a hard edge through his physicality, constantly using body language to close himself off from Pascal. Pascal offers a great counterpoint to Hawke, with his warmth and openness used as tools to break down Hawke’s walls. He’s always on the offensive and Pascal is so endearing that we desperately want to see him get what he wants from Hawke even if we don’t care about the character himself. There’s been so much talk about the death of the movie star over the last few years, but while Pascal isn’t a movie star, he is giving a movie star performance here. We aren’t rooting for the character, we’re rooting for the actor.
If Almodóvar were to one day turn this short into a feature, I think it would work much better. There’s too much going on in the short, and it all goes by too quickly to leave much of an impression. At feature length, not only could character relationships and the setting be more fleshed out and explored, but it would allow the emotions space to breathe. As it is, the short washes over you at such a relentless pace that it doesn’t leave you with anything — emotionally potent while you’re watching, but ending before it gives you something to think about.
