Starring: Cailee Spaeny, Jacob Elordi, Dagmara Fominczyk
Distributor: Madman Entertainment
Runtime: 113 mins. Reviewed in Jan 2024
Reviewer: Peter W Sheehan
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This American biographical drama follows the life of Priscilla and her relationship with Elvis Presley, whom she married.
The film is written, directed and produced by Sofia Coppola and is based on the 1985 book Elvis and Me by Priscilla Presley and Sandra Harmon. Priscilla Presley served as an executive producer for the film.
The film intimately explores the private lives of Priscilla (Spaeny) and Elvis Presley (Elordi). Spaeny took out the Best Actress Award at the 2023 Venice Film Festival.
Priscilla was 14 years old when she met 24-year-old Elvis Presley at a party in West Germany at a US Army base in 1959. Priscilla went to a Catholic girls’ high school in Memphis while living with Elvis at Graceland. They travelled to Las Vegas together when Priscilla was 17, and were married in 1967 at a Las Vegas ceremony. In 1968 Priscilla gave birth to a daughter, Lisa Marie. Priscilla never remarried, and both Elvis and Priscilla had affairs. The couple divorced in 1973, but Priscilla maintained a relationship with Elvis after their marriage had ended.
Spaeny offers a subtle interpretation of Priscilla, but the film will inevitably be compared with Baz Luhrmann’s 2022 film, Elvis, which focused on Elvis and his manager, Col Tom Parker, in exuberant style. In sharp contrast, this film examines Elvis almost entirely through the eyes of a teenager. Coppola provides viewers with a tender, sad look at Elvis, and she delivers an unseen side of an American icon. Spaeny’s acting creates a film of reflection about the life of a teen, who lived in a famous man’s world where Elvis insisted on control of the person he married. The romance between Elvis and Priscilla was turbulent.
There are no Elvis hit songs in this film because Elvis’ estate did not let Coppola use any of Elvis’ music. The film is anchored firmly to Spaeny’s performance as Priscilla – even when Elvis experiments with LSD with her. The tragedy of Elvis Presley as life engulfs him, ultimately becomes the liberation of Priscilla who finally breaks away from his control. The separation of the two in the final moments of the film poignantly depicts the seductive traps of extreme fame to which Elvis had fallen victim.
Coppola’s film is much darker than Luhrmann’s film and more cautionary about Elvis as a musical legend. This is not a movie about Elvis, but an evocative film about Priscilla, who was a woman who had a toxic relationship with a man she adored. The story of their relationship is guided expertly by Coppola, and she delivers a thought-provoking movie. The genius of Elvis Presley and his music, however, are more obviously evident in Luhrmann’s film.
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