Film Review – Priscilla (2023)

Elvis Presley is a name known by virtually everyone. And if you have been living under a rock for your whole life, Buz Luhrman’s Elvis just two years made one of the most famous American musicians of all times even more of a household name than ever before as the director opened a window into the reality of Elvis’ life. Of course, when talking about Elvis, one has to mention his wife: Priscilla Presley. While Elvis’ fame may have obscured Priscilla’s, this is soon to change with Sofia Coppola’s newest film Priscilla.

Based on Priscilla Presley’s very own memoir “Elvis and Me,” Priscilla follows the relationship between the titular Priscilla (Jacob Elordi). The film starts in 1960 in West where a 14-year-old Priscilla Beaulieu meets the world-renowned 24-year-old singer Elvis Presley at a party on the U.S. Military base. Despite the age difference, Priscilla’s parents’ concerns, and Elvis’ return to the United States, Elvis and Priscilla’s tumultuous relationship continues through the years and hardships to follow as they build a family together and Elvis’ fame skyrockets even more.

Cailee Spaeny is fantastic as Priscilla. Despite being a film about her, it feels like Priscilla only speaks little in the movie and when she does, she rarely gets to speak her mind. However, Spaney can convey every single one of her character’s feelings and emotions through a look alone. Jacob Elordi as Elvis also shines: in this film, we get a very different picture of the American singer than the one Luhrman and Austin Butler portrayed in 2022. Elordi’s version is a lot darker, sometimes even menacing, in his interactions with Priscilla, which works incredibly well in this film that does not shy away from portraying the more troubling and controversial aspect of Elvis’ marriage to Priscilla.

The costume design and production design are also incredibly impressive as they allow the viewers to inverse themselves into every single set the actors set on, spanning more than a decade of fashion, aesthetics, and time in American history. The costumes and make-up, in particular, truly give us an idea of what this life looked like for a woman who had little control over her actions, let alone her looks. As the movie goes on, her outfits represent every stage of her life and take the audience through her emotional inner journey too.

The film truly gives us a new perspective into a story known and loved by so many, one that feels a lot more personal and unique than the usual narrative on the couple. It is a story that is just as important to underline as Elvis’ own and, more importantly, one that the real Priscilla Presley also took ownership of telling as the movie is not only based on her memories, but she also served as executive producer on this film. It is also Sofia Coppola doing what she does best as well: a personal look into the private life of a young woman who has been somewhat unknowingly and unwillingly catapulted into fame at a very young age.

Priscilla is an intimate portrayal of the main character’s life, a character study into the woman behind one of the most famous men in the contemporary music industry and their controversial and somewhat troubling relationship. Coppola undoubtedly created a beautiful and sentimental film with brilliant performances that allow us to explore the complexities of these people and the grey areas their relationship came with in real life. However, I do wish it had done even more with its premise and dug even deeper into the ambiguousness of the relationship that we see portrayed on screen.