Priscilla

An interesting situation occurred in 2023 when the film Priscilla was released, which told the story of Priscilla Presley and her complicated romance with the iconic rock and roll singer, Elvis Presley, as it came out a year after the hit movie biopic, Elvis, was released, which showcased Elvis’ rise to musical stardom and the toxic dynamic between him and his corrupt manager. While seemingly having no direct connection, it was hard not to pair the two, as it felt like Priscilla was going to take a more direct and grounded approach to the real-life situation whilst Elvis got comfortably lost in its feverish spectacle and glitzy appeal. While both performed well within their respective parameters, Elvis was by far and away the more popular movie critically, financially and honorarily, whilst Priscilla was largely ignored outside of the film festival space despite being directed by acclaimed filmmaker, Sofia Coppola, and it’s not hard to see why.

In 1960 after being moved to West Germany due to her father being relocated for military purposes, 14-year-old Priscilla Beaulieu (played by Cailee Spaeny) is approached by a soldier and asked if she’d like to attend a party where the currently-drafted Elvis Presley (played by Jacob Elordi) would be attending, which (given her age and his popularity at the time), she readily agrees to. After meeting the superstar and getting lost in his gentle nature and shared feelings of homesickness for Texas, a strong bond is formed that eventually leads to a mutual obsession, enough so that (despite the age gap), Elvis gets in a relationship with her and allows her to stay in his mansion in Memphis, Tennessee. Seemingly getting everything she wanted, Priscilla quickly learns being the desired soulmate of one of the biggest musicians in the world comes with a lot of pressure and a need to remain in the house to comfort him when he eventually returns from tour, resulting in a shallow non-existent life that only sparingly gets improved by lavish gifts. With Elvis himself even pushing harsh standards onto her and his unpredictable mood swings making him uncomfortable to be around, Priscilla has put herself in a bad situation that she will need to get out of in order to feel like a real person again.

Priscilla is a well-made film that takes an interesting deep dive into a very high-profile celebrity couple but is mainly held together by two very strong leading performances, pleasing visual design that provides insight into the lead’s mental state, and incredible direction by Sophia Coppola, who was the perfect person to tell this specific story.

Being based on the 1985 memoir Elvis and Me written by Sandra Harmon and Priscilla Presley (who acted as an executive producer on this film), Coppola started working on an adaption of the book after getting really invested in Priscilla’s situation, which makes total sense given Coppola’s clear love for making movies about the female perspective, and that perspective goes a long way into helping this movie out. While the situation surrounding Priscilla sounds tragically intriguing given she was an underage preteen drawn in by the appeal of Elvis who eventually crashed back into reality after experiencing how oppressive living with him was like, the specifics don’t scream cinematic, and the narrative’s limited trajectory, repetitive scene work and lack of a strong emotional hook/climax, makes it hard to fully get invested in, which explains the general indifference casual audiences had to this project. With this in mind, Sofia Coppola proves once again to be a top tier director as she really brings the most out of this limited source material and (for the most part), dilutes the negatives in a way that lets the strengths of the memoir shine through.

The audience is firmly put into the perspective of Priscilla, with no outside interference or viewpoints being provided, allowing everyone to feel the childish glee, frustrated neglect, and empty sorrow she’s feeling through each stage of her relationship with Elvis. The first two acts are wonderfully constructed, are mainly run by incredible facial acting and crisp visual storytelling, and everything is extenuated by Coppola’s grounded and slow yet also dreamy directing style that methodically but assuredly brings insight into a complex scenario where no one is perfect and no one is the outright bad guy, but the pain inflicted is true even if it isn’t physical. The last act does feel a little crunched down and rushes to an ending that should’ve been emotionally uplifting, but rings a little hollow thanks to the plot’s majorly lackadaisical energy, and the script (also written by Coppola) seems more interesting in dissecting the relationship rather than the people themselves, but it cements Coppola as a fantastic in-depth director whose distinct qualities can improve material that might’ve been dull without her.

Since the film is solely shown from Priscilla’s perspective, it means that all the characters are presented as she saw them, and outside of Elvis, no one else really feels crucial to this film and what it’s talking about. Some come close like her parents (played by Dagmara Domińczyk and Ari Cohen) and Elvis’ entourage and house workers do make for lively support to Priscilla’s accomplishments, but as expected of a movie about their relationship, Elvis and Priscilla are the only two that could be considered actual ‘characters’, and yet, it doesn’t feel like an issue. This is due to Cailee Spaeny and Jacob Elordi’s really strong performances, as both bring an honesty to people who were practically consumed by the public image surrounding them (especially Elvis) and make what are honestly not very interesting portrayals, compelling to watch. A flaw with this film’s desire to tackle a relationship and not the people is that it can leave both parties feeling like slaves to the messaging, and while they don’t feel phony thanks to the unbiased direction and good acting, it’s hard to say either Elvis or Priscilla are interesting characters in this.

Considering Elvis had recently been brought to life by Austin Butler through a fiery and magnetic performance, seeing someone else portray him only a year later could’ve been jarring, but because of the more relaxed atmosphere and homestead environment he populates, Jacob Elordi is able to bring his own voice, and he really does a great job. The way he’s able to eerily capture Elvis’ speech pattern and attitude in a more casual setting without it coming across as too try-hard is very impressive and seeing this musical icon in a sense where he not only feels real, but flawed in a non-tropey sense is striking, but also strangely reassuring. It’s taking the mask off a person who clearly suffered greatly and shows him as a troubled soul who did some indefensible things (he essentially groomed Priscilla), but isn’t a clean-cut abuser either, it’s a minor but nonetheless very effective portrayal. Having to carry most of the film on her shoulders, Cailee Spaeny also does a great job making you identify with this girl who got caught up in a schoolgirl crush and pulled into a romantic dynamic she was unequipped for, resulting in a stifling existence that leaves her without agency. Her teenage portions are very strong and the early stages of her dealing with Elvis’ behaviour are conveyed really well through Spaeny’s expressions alone, but the movie’s dedication to showing her entrapment means she doesn’t have a lot of personality or intrigue to work with, meaning the character can be a little boring. It’s not enough to wreck the performance but is a hinderance when she’s the major focus.

Both Priscilla and Elvis as movies use their visuals as a way of creating an atmosphere and effectively shining a light on how the person of focus is feeling, and the contrasting natures of both films is strikingly interesting. While Elvis was extravagant, flashy and chaotic cinematically to the point that it totally exited the realms of reality, Priscilla has a softer, more subdued energy that still has its touches of expressionist energy but mainly uses its more life-like appeal to highlight the lead’s struggles in a very nice fashion. The best display of this is when Priscilla is left alone in the mansion, which is extremely fancy, clean and lavish, but thanks to the exposing cinematography by Phillippe Le Sourd, feels like a polished tomb that can’t be touched. The imagery goes a long way to demonstrating what’s going on through Priscilla head, and the production design by Tamara Deverell, set decoration by Patricia Cuccia and costume design by Stacey Battat not only feasible emulates the time period and location, but feels heightened just enough to breathe some life and energy into a pretty reserved and soul-searching feature.

The color palette flips between being hazy and bleached during moments of mundanity, to glowing and saturated whenever she and Elvis are together, coming to a head within the mansion where any doses of color are erased by the blaring colorless sunlight that really makes what should be a home feel like a dollhouse. Priscilla’s outfits going from conservative and respectfully youthful, to outwardly sensual and distractingly touched-up further pushes the doll metaphor while also showing the areas she was willing to go to in order to live up to Elvis’ expectations (which is also shown through the hair and make-up), and thanks to the talent of these creatives and Coppola’s directing, it’s able to look and feel visually exciting despite not having much to show off on a budget of only $20 million. The sound of the musical score also feels like a staple of Coppola’s work, smartly deciding to leave out most of Elvis’ music and instead filling the film with an indie-feeling rock/techno mix created by the French band, Phoenix that pairs a modern sense of rebellion with a throwback sense of comfort, which can also be said for some of the original music created by the musical band, Sons of Raphael, never taking centre stage likes Elvis himself, but pops up enough to feel like a major element.

Priscilla (much like the woman the film is based on) does get overshadowed by her more globally beloved ex-husband and the movie ironically stops right before she ventures into avenues that could’ve made for a compelling cinematic portrayal (mainly how she coped with Elvis’ passing, her acting prospects and her business propositions as the chairwoman of Elvis Presley Enterprises), but it’s better to see what this film does right rather that what it misses. While Elvis as a movie was more electric, thrilling and even with the cartoonish energy, provided insight into the person in question, Priscilla is more interested in passively looking into the situation rather than the person, but does so in an earnest and personalized fashion thanks to strong leading performances from Spaeny and Elordi, colorful aesthetics, and really good directing from Sophia Coppola. Won’t work for casual viewers and maybe even most Sophia Coppola fans, but for those who are willing to see the messy side of one of their icons, it’s got enough merits to warrant a watch.