Review: Priscilla

By John Corrado

★★★★ (out of 4)

Sofia Coppola’s Priscilla, the writer-director’s best film since Lost in Translation, is a biopic of Priscilla Presley that focuses on her relationship to Elvis, offering an unglamorous but authentic look at their troubled romance.

In its own way, Priscilla also serves as the subdued, melancholic counterpart to the cinematic spectacle of Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis from last year, showing Priscilla’s increasing isolation in the face of Presley’s fame. It’s a captivating film, with wonderful work from Cailee Spaeny in the titular role.

The two first meet in West Germany, where American schoolgirl Priscilla (Spaeny) is living with her U.S. Airforce stepfather Paul Beaulieu (Ari Cohen), and rockstar Elvis Presley (Jacob Elordi) is stationed during his compulsory military service.

The initial connection happens at a diner on the airforce base, when one of Presley’s men approaches and asks the young, homesick Priscilla if she wants to meet The King. Elvis gets the reluctant permission of her father and mother (Dagmara Domińczyk) to invite her to a house party, where he begins to woo (or, rather, groom) Priscilla.

Priscilla, herself a young Elvis fan who misses her home in Texas, is flattered by the attention, so much so that she wants to chase his fame back to America. The two meet when she is 14 and he is 24, an age difference that isn’t dwelled upon, but is instantly noticeable. Coppola doesn’t pass judgement, per se, merely observing the power imbalances that are apparent right from the start in the adult Presley’s pursuit of the teenaged Priscilla.

Coppola’s screenplay, adapted from Priscilla Presley’s 1985 memoir Elvis and Me, charts the early days of their relationship, following along as Priscilla moves to Memphis to live with him at Graceland. Elvis continues to go on tour and act in movies, leaving her behind to “keep the home fires burning.” While tabloids swirl with reports of his affairs with other celebrities, Priscilla is expected to remain at home as the demure young wife, and eventually mother to their daughter, Lisa Marie.

Coppola perfectly captures the gauzy feeling of being a lonely young woman at Graceland, slowly realizing that the palace is its own sort of prison. Spaeny (who won the Volpi Cup for Best Actress at Venice) carries the film with a graceful performance, finding that balance between portraying Priscilla as delicate but with a growing self-awareness. It’s a sensitive, subtly layered performance, as we watch the character grow over the course of the film.

If he must exist in the shadow of Austin Butler’s transformative, Oscar-nominated turn in Elvis, Elordi delivers a magnetic portrayal of Presley that is compelling in its own right. This is a more predatory take on Elvis, as he becomes more controlling over every aspect Priscilla’s life, from what she wears to where she goes. But he still has to be charismatic and charming, so that we understand why she falls under his sway, and Elordi does an uncanny job of nailing this balance.

The production does a good job of recreating period details on a somewhat limited budget (the film was shot in locations around Toronto last fall), from the set design to the costumes and hairstyling. It’s all gorgeously captured by cinematographer Philippe Le Sourd, with a dreamy, nostalgic glow to it that at times grows sinister. While they didn’t have the rights to Presley’s recordings, the soundtrack overseen by Coppola’s partner Thomas Mars and his band Phoenix, includes some clever and beautifully fitting music cues.

This is Coppola in Somewhere or Lost in Translation mode, capturing similar feelings of loneliness and isolation, while also exploring the youthful malaise of Marie Antoinette and The Virgin Suicides. She has always shown a genuine gift for portraying bored young women searching for a way out of the doldrums of their lives, as well as the illusory nature of fame and the suffocating shadow that it casts, which makes Priscilla a natural addition to her filmography.

It is possible to be fan of Elvis the performer (which I am), while still admitting his flaws and demons as a person. Coppola toes this line perfectly, depicting a relationship that becomes more sinister with the clarity of hindsight. While the film was not approved by the Elvis estate, it was made with the blessing of Priscilla, who serves as executive producer. In Coppola’s hands, Priscilla serves as both a captivating story about an isolated teenage girl thrust into the spotlight only to become trapped by it, and also a powerful portrait of a young woman slowly reclaiming her own agency.

As a side note, since Priscilla was filmed in Toronto, I did some minor background acting work on the film last year. I’ve tried my best not to let this bias my review.