Pedro Pascal and Ethan Hawke Lead Steamy Romance in Trailer for 'Strange Way of Life'

The film, directed by Pedro Almodóvar, premieres in May at the Cannes Film Festival

Ethan Hawke and Pedro Pascal share a conflicted romance in Strange Way of Life.

On Wednesday, the first trailer debuted for the upcoming short drama film, which stars Hawke, 52, and Pascal, 48, as two men reunited after more than two decades amid a volatile Western backdrop.

"A man (Pascal) rides a horse across the desert that separates him from Bitter Creek. He comes to visit Sheriff Jake (Hawke)," the film's director, Pedro Almodóvar (Parallel Mothers), explained of the plot in a statement shared by the Cannes Film Festival, where the film will debut next month.

"Twenty-five years earlier, both the sheriff and Silva, the rancher who rides out to meet him, worked together as hired gunmen," his synopsis continues. "Silva visits him with the excuse of reuniting with his friend from his youth, and they do indeed celebrate their meeting, but the next morning Sheriff Jake tells him that the reason for his trip is not to go down the memory lane of their old friendship...."

As for the title, Almodóvar, 73, told Cannes that it "alludes to the famous fado by Amalia Rodrigues, whose lyrics suggest that there is no stranger existence than the one that is lived by turning your back on your own desires."

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"You never loved me — you never loved anyone in your life!" Silva yells at Jake, who immediately points a gun at the rancher's face and whispers, "Don't say that," in the trailer.

Shortly after, an injured Jake is seen lying in a bed as Silva cares for him at his bedside.

"Years ago, you asked what two men could do, living together on a ranch," Silva tells Jake. "I'll answer you now."

Almodóvar and the team behind Strange Way of Life will participate in a conversation surrounding the Cannes screening in May, Variety reported.

Speaking with IndieWire last June, Almodóvar described the story as "intimate" but hesitated to draw too big a parallel between Strange Way of Life and 2005's Brokeback Mountain.

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"The relation between these two guys is animalistic," he told the outlet. "It was a physical relationship. The punch of the movie comes when they have to separate, and Heath Ledger discovers that he can't think about leaving. That's a strong discovery."

"But until that moment, it is animalistic, and for me it was impossible to have that in the movie because it was a Hollywood movie," Almodóvar added. "You could not have these two guys f---ing all the time."

The film was produced by El Deseo's Agustín Almodóvar and scored by Alberto Iglesias, with a supporting cast including Pedro Casablanc, Manu Ríos, George Steane, José Condessa, Jason Fernández, Sara Sálamo, Ohiana Cueto and Daniela Medina.

Esther García serves as executive producer, while associate producers include Bárbara Peiró, Diego Pajuelo and Saint Laurent by Anthony Vaccarello, per Variety. Strange Way of Life was written by Larry McMurtry and Diana Ossana, from a short story by Annie Proulx.

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