Priscilla Review: Everything You Need to Know About Sofia Coppola's Film

Publish date: 2024-05-02

Priscilla premiered at the London Film Festival on October 9, 2023. It's out in cinemas now.

Priscilla opens with a woman's bedroom. A girl is getting ready — perfectly manicured feet step onto a fluffy pink rug. A tower of dark hair is coated in layers of hairspray. The sharp, tapered edge of a dramatic cat eye is painted on. It's a feminine getting-ready montage instantly reminiscent of other iconic film openings — Clueless, Legally Blonde and even Barbie with its already famous feet shot all spring to mind.

Soon, we see more of the space. Amongst the objects of teen girl-dom, we see glimpses of Elvis memorabilia. We are in Graceland — but while Elvis's presence looms everywhere, this is Priscilla's corner of his empire.

There have, naturally, been many comparisons between Sofia Coppola's Priscilla, a biopic based on the memoir and input of the real-life wife of Elvis, Priscilla Presley, and last year's Elvis, the Elvis biopic directed by Baz Luhrmann. However, while the two films may both explore the “real” life of Elvis, Priscilla is not an Elvis film — instead, it tells the story of Graceland as seen through the heavy eyeliner and false eyelashes of her gaze.

We meet Priscilla as a 14-year-old girl living on an American base in West Germany with her parents. When a man approaches her at a diner inviting her to a party at Elvis's house, she leaps at the chance. Soon, a relationship develops between the young Priscilla and the 24-year-old Elvis. She is, of course, infatuated and thrilled to be “chosen”. After all, he's one of the most famous singers in the world — and she, like every other American teenage girl, spends her days fantasising about him.

Coppola takes her time with the early, increasingly uncomfortable stages of their relationship. We see Priscilla putting on her best dresses for their “dates”. We see her obsessing over his records and pinning his posters to her walls. We see her doodling his name in bubble writing in the pages of her school books. As Coppola lingers on the fantasy of Elvis in Priscilla's teenage mind, it's impossible to ignore just how young she really is — and just how inappropriate any romantic relationship with Elvis is.

Eventually, Priscilla's parents allow her to move to Graceland, where, they are assured, she will be chaperoned and will finish high school (yes, she is still that young). There, she lives an isolated existence, attending school and waiting by the phone for Elvis's calls from Hollywood where he's filming a movie — he needs her to be there to answer when he calls, he tells her, so, no seeing friends or getting a job is out of the question. Soon, he begins to control her appearance, too, telling her what to wear and how to do her hair and makeup. But, he says at one point, prompting uncomfortable shifting throughout the cinema, “Don't change”. The implication is, don't get too old.

Their relationship continues on in this way for years. They marry and have a child. But as her childhood fantasy fades, the reality of the relationship's dysfunction and toxicity begins to dawn on her.

Priscilla was promised the ultimate teenage fairytale — romance with a pop star and a life of glamour. Of course, on the outside, that's what she got. But Coppola's film is a sickening reminder that their relationship was actually far more sinister undertones. Not only was Priscilla effectively groomed by Elvis with the help of his friends, she was stripped of any agency during her time in Graceland — she was forced to follow Elvis' rules, which included everything from what to wear to what to say. And when she dared to disobey, he became violent. It's a sobering reminder of the insidious way an imbalance of power can hum away beneath the surface of a relationship for years before rearing its ugly head for all to see.

Coppola's atmospheric, dreamy study of Priscilla's life with Elvis is hardly plot-driven — rather, she offers a series of visually luscious, emotionally resonant vignettes, dropping us deeper and deeper into Priscilla's perspective. And so, we feel everything she feels alongside her — the excitement of the prospect of Hollywood glamour, the loneliness of Graceland, the betrayal of not getting the fairy tale that was promised, and, ultimately, the sense of freedom when she finds the courage to leave it all behind.

As dreamy and artful as Coppola's filmmaking style may be, the film remains an unflinchingly dark re-examination of the myth of Graceland. Through emotion rather than rhetoric, it draws back the curtain on the glossy sheen of glamour that Graceland promised for Priscilla — in turn, the curtain is also lifted on our collective denial about Elvis and indeed many men in positions of power in the entertainment industry. It's hardly a surprise that the Presley estate refused to give the project their seal of approval.

Jacob Elordi is at once explosive and charming as Elvis, a towering, unpredictable force that naturally pulls Priscilla into its orbit. As Priscilla, 24-year-old Cailee Spaeny is the emotional centre of the film, propelling us adeptly through her 13 year relationship with Elvis. Her ability to convincingly play every age from 14 to 27 a huge feat in itself. However, it is her nuanced portrayal of Priscilla's love for Elvis, despite the toxic core of their relationship, that may well leave us all with a new collective understanding of their legacy.

What are people saying about Priscilla so far?

Priscilla premiered at both Venice Film Festival and London Film Festival, and people were immediately obsessed.

As the film has hit cinemas, fans have pointed out how well the film deals with Priscilla's isolation, in particular. One posted: “I think my favorite thing about Priscilla is how Sofia chose to depict her loneliness.

"There are so many wide zoomed out shots of Priscilla looking so small and alone in this big empty house with practically nothing to do and no one to talk to. Just waiting around for Elvis”.

Another fan echoes this, calling Cailee Spaeny's performance “incredible” as well as “a portrait of loneliness, she conveys so much with just a look". They described the film as "beautiful, delicate and quietly devastating".

One fan tweeted: “#Priscilla is one of the most beautifully shot films I’ve seen in some time. Just incredible to look at. The leads are excellent and I enjoyed the story… Sofia Coppola is an incredible director.”

Is there a trailer for Priscilla?

Yes. Watch below.

The real story of Elvis and Priscilla

The real story goes something like this: In the late 1950s, an extremely famous Elvis Presley was drafted into the US Army and served as a soldier stationed in West Germany. The star had already released three top-selling albums and made four films by 1958; including Jailhouse Rock. In 1959, Priscilla’s family were living in West Germany, where her stepfather was also stationed. It was at a party in September of that year that 14-year-old Priscilla met the 24-year-old singer.

The two quickly hit it off, and on the last night of Elvis’ military service before his return to America, Priscilla recalls (via Insider) wondering, “would I ever see him again, be in his arms the way I had been nearly every night for the past six months?” While things quietened down after being apart, they eventually travelled together to Las Vegas when Priscilla was 17 — she told her parents they would be going to Los Angeles with a chaperone (there was definitely no chaperone).

In 1963, Priscilla officially moved into Elvis’ home, Graceland and in 1967, the pair tied the knot in a small Las Vegas ceremony with only 14 guests. Priscilla would later explain that their marriage had more to do with social expectation than a desire to tie the knot: “Even though we were perfectly content the way we were, at that time, it wasn't nice for people to live together.” Within their first year, Priscilla became pregnant. Seven months into her pregnancy, Elvis asked his new wife for a trial separation. However, two days later, he retracted his request and apparently never brought it up again. In 1968, she gave birth to the couple's first child, their daughter, Lisa Marie Presley.

Over the next ten years, Priscilla and Elvis' relationship began to break down, with Priscilla having an affair with her karate instructor, Mike Stone. The couple filed for legal separation in 1972 and, eventually, divorce in 1973. However, they remained amicable and were even photographed leaving the courthouse hand in hand.

Priscilla and Elvis maintained a strong relationship long after their marriage ended, and according to various friends of the couple, Elvis would continue to call her all the time. Priscilla eventually broke up with Stone and had a string of high-profile relationships — including with Rob Kardashian, Julio Iglesias, model Michael Edwards and film producer Marco Garibaldi, the latter with whom she had a son, Navarone Garibaldi.

Priscilla was reportedly heavily involved with the Priscilla movie and is listed in the credits as an executive producer.

Who stars in Priscilla?

Cailee Spaeny plays Priscilla – she has starred in Mare of Easttown, On The Basis Of Sex, which looks at the life of legendary US lawyer and jurist Ruth Bader Ginsburg, as well as playing Anna Eleanor Roosevelt in The First Lady, alongside Gillian Anderson and Viola Davis.

Spaeny recently won the Venice Film Festival Award for Best Actress for her work in Priscilla. "Priscilla trusted me with something truly complex, subtle, difficult, and personal, and I was overwhelmed by the responsibility in trying to honour this delicate section of her life," Spaeny said upon winning the award. “I have such gratitude and respect for her honesty." She went on to thank Coppola for her “thoughtful and intuitive leadership”.

The role of Elvis is played, excitingly, by Euphoria's Jacob Elordi. Succession's Dagmara Domińczyk plays Priscilla's mum Ann.

Coppola said in an interview with the Guardian the film “would have its own challenges… how I would ever find someone to play Elvis. Jacob Elordi did this just how I imagined: in a subtle way, evoking the feeling of him as he was described by Priscilla in his private life."

What has Coppola said about Priscilla?

In her interview with Vogue, Sofia Coppola opened up about her motivations for making a film from Priscilla's perspective.

“I've had her memoir for years and remember reading it a long time ago,” she said. "I read it again and was really moved by her story… I was just so interested in Priscilla's story and her perspective on what it all felt like to grow up as a teenager in Graceland. She was going through all the stages of young womanhood in such an amplified world — kinda similar to Marie Antoinette."

She also talked about how pleased she was with Jacob Elordi's casting as Elvis: “I thought nobody was gonna look quite like Elvis, but Jacob has that same type of magnetism,” she said. “He's so charismatic, and girls go crazy around him, so I knew he could pull off playing this type of romantic icon.”

Coppola said in an interview with the Guardian, “When I first read Priscilla Presley’s memoir Elvis and Me, I found it really interesting and was impressed by how personal and revealing it was. I loved how she wrote in a way that was so direct and relatable about going through all the stages that most girls go through into womanhood – but in such a unique and eccentric setting at Graceland, with Elvis Presley.”

Coppola said: “I got so into her story and the vivid world, and how wild it must have been to be going to a Catholic girls’ high school in Memphis while living with Elvis at Graceland, struggling to stay awake in class and do her studies after partying all night with Elvis and his friends. And I appreciated the strength she showed in leaving to find her own identity after growing up trying to be his idea of the ideal woman.

“I worried at first that it might be too similar to Marie Antoinette, but when I spoke to Priscilla I was able to understand more about her perspective and began to see how it could become its own film.”

Coppola has also addressed the issues of making a film about someone who is still alive. She told the newspaper. “It was a new kind of pressure to do the story of someone who is alive and I always wanted Priscilla to be happy with it, while including what I responded to in her story. I think it was a complicated relationship and a different time. I hope the audience can feel what it was like for her, and see how we all go through so much to become who we are.”

When will Priscilla be out in cinemas?

It's out now. Put on your blue suede shoes and get to a screening.

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