Priscilla (2023) | REVIEW

Directed by Sofia Coppola — Screenplay by Sofia Coppola.

Like I suspect many have and will, I found it difficult to watch this film without thinking about the Baz Luhrmann film, Elvis, which was released more than a year prior to this film’s release. Really, though they both feature Elvis and Priscilla, they couldn’t be more different. It’s not just that Elvis is a popular blockbuster from a major studio, while Priscillla was released with much less fanfare by an indie studio. To add to that, while Elvis follows the well-worn music biopic formula albeit with a distinctive kinetic and dizzying visual style, Priscilla is a much more muted film with wildly different aims and approaches to the story of one of the most famous couples in American history.

Though it may not be as successful, this film does deserve better than to merely be in the shadow of Elvis. Frankly, I think they work really well as companion pieces to one another because of their differences. And it’s tough to really think of anyone more appropriate than Sofia Coppola to tell this story of a woman who, for many, is defined by her surname and her connection to a more famous man, but whose story is more than merely worthwhile — it is necessary. This is both because of the accomplished director’s filmmaking family empire, but especially because of her oeuvre which includes films like Marie Antoinette and Lost in Translation both of which tell stories related to loneliness and finding oneself as a woman in confusing or stifling surroundings, just to name a couple of similarities.

This film obviously tells the well-known story of how a very young Priscilla Beaulieu (here played by Cailee Spaeny) met, fell for, and had a complicated relationship with Elvis Presley, the superstar who was ten years her senior, who she eventually became the wife of and mother to his child. Though Coppola definitely does not sugarcoat the inappropriateness of their relationship or the potentially abusive behavior of the late singer, she also doesn’t hit you over the head with it, as she clearly presents you with the realities of their complicated romantic relationship, the realities of their unbalanced power dynamic, and how the title character was molded in her husband’s image. The film does, however, feature scenes depicting the late singer being controlling, pressuring, and abusive as Priscilla is gaslit and kept in a constant state of loneliness in Elvis’ cage-like mansion, which rid her of any shred of individuality. 

Coppola, naturally, does a good job of emphasizing these aspects of her main character, which, as mentioned, are themes she is more than used to depicting on screen. The aesthetic and approach are understated but effective, as well as relatively slowly paced. Frankly, not a lot happens other than expertly highlighting the limitations and abuse that the title character suffered under, and, as such, I expect some viewers may struggle with it. This is also because the third act is over before you know it, and the story that Coppola is telling doesn’t really give you a good idea of who Priscilla is. Rather, it gives you an idea of how she wasn’t able to properly become someone under these restrictions and due to the often absent and lying husband who, for so long, dictated every aspect of her life.

To bring this to life, Coppola smartly cast Cailee Spaeny and Jacob Elordi, whose notable height difference helps to emphasize the age gap (it is also further emphasized by how young Spaeny looks). Spaeny does a phenomenal job of telling a lot with very few speaking lines, as her nuanced work helps to give you somewhat of an idea of how she feels. Meanwhile, Elordi was given the difficult task of competing with Austin Butler’s Oscar-nominated portrayal of Elvis Presley. Elordi, who didn’t have the artist’s music to fall back on due to rights issues, does deliver a good, albeit subdued performance that never really feels like a caricature, but which is always appropriately (for this film) less charming but colder than what Butler received praise for. 

7.5 out of 10

– Review Written by Jeffrey Rex Bertelsen.