Hearing that Sofia Coppola would make a biopic of Priscilla Presley mere months after Baz Luhrmann’s bombastic Elvis was like waking up on Christmas morning to your parents giving you a gift you didn’t tell them you wanted. It was wish fulfillment for the girls and the gays everywhere — to get the side of the story that Luhrmann’s film completely avoided. With Coppola having proven she could put her signature coming-of-age spin on biopics of historical icons, there was nothing to fear. The story of one of the most famous wives in the world was in good hands. That’s what makes seeing the final product so painful. This could have been truly great. A fun but melancholic, ultra-feminine middle finger to the glorification of men who lived two lives. But Coppola plays it safe and offers a disjointed compilation of the highs and lows of a toxic marriage — and not much more.

‘Priscilla’ Has a Straightforward Script
Image Via A24

The script — which is based on Priscilla’s memoir, Elvis and Me — is as straightforward as you can get with a biopic. We follow Priscilla (Cailee Spaeny) from her first meeting with Elvis (Jacob Elordi) in Germany to the day she realizes she can finally live without him, over a decade later. We’re introduced to a 14-year-old Priscilla living a lonely life in West Germany where her father is stationed. She has no friends and spends her afternoons after school somberly sucking on milkshakes. When a fellow soldier invites her to a party at the Elvis Presley’s house, it’s the first time she’s been excited about something in a while. Elvis, crowded by adorers and friends, immediately takes a liking to the young Priscilla (again, she’s only 14 and he’s 24). He wants to keep seeing her but her parents forbid it. “Please don’t ruin my life,” Priscilla says desperately, as if her livelihood depends on seeing this man.

Their infatuation blossoms until he has to go back to the States — and stardom. He calls when he feels like it until he doesn’t and Priscilla is in despair. Then he invites her to Graceland on a first-class ticket as if the past few months of his ignoring her never happened. She then moves full-time to Graceland, expected to slot into his life just the way he likes. The film does a good job of eerily blending Elvis as a lover and father figure: “I promise to enroll her in a good Catholic school,” he creepily tells Priscilla’s real Dad. Graceland is full of Elvis’s entourage and it becomes clear to Priscilla that she is not the only person who sees him as the center of their world. From there, we watch as their passionate relationship gives way to affairs, gaslighting, pills, toxicity, and downright abuse.

‘Priscilla’ Doesn’t Bring Any Nuance to the Biopic
Image via A24

Priscilla is a paint-by-numbers biopic/adaptation of a memoir. It goes no further than the page. It presents scene after scene of Elvis wooing Priscilla, and then controlling her every move — from the hair to the clothes to the eye makeup. As Elvis takes more uppers and downers he grows aggressive until the slightest peep from Priscilla leads him to throw a chair at the wall inches from her, but then he wraps her in his arms and tells her he loves her as she can barely move with shock. These are powerful moments, especially when audiences were given an Elvis who was a larger-than-life hero just last year. Coppola successfully takes down a man who was always presented as either a legend or a victim of the Hollywood system.

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The “Colonel” aka Tom Parker is only mentioned and never seen (but the trauma from Tom Hanks’ accent will remain in audiences’s minds forever). This is Priscilla’s strongest achievement but it should have been more than that. This should have been a film about a young girl, groomed by a rock star and then subjected to a life devoid of independence or agency. Her story was never told so this was an opportunity to really dive into the psyche of a woman locked into a deceptively glamorous marriage. But Priscilla herself still remains a mystery. We empathize with her not because we understand her but because we watch her go through one horrible situation after another.

The script won’t be the only thing to underwhelm audiences, especially Sofia Coppola fans. There are signature Coppola moments of close-ups of trinkets, make-up products, and other objects that make up the bedroom (and life) of a young woman living through a high-stakes experience. But it doesn’t have the dreamy palette of The Virgin Suicides, the modern American, plastic gloss of The Bling Ring, or the explosive opulence of Marie Antoinette. The entire aesthetic is muted, a grey lens permeating the entire film, sucking out all the things we adore in Sofia Coppola movies. The direction is by no means bad, but it doesn’t hold a candle to her other works. One can’t help but get the feeling that the whole production was rushed (this film was only announced a year ago, after all). That said, her mastery of soundtracks is alive and well, swapping out Elvis for The Ramones, and the scores from True Romance and 2001: A Space Odyssey.

Cailee Spaeny and Jacob Elordi Are Brilliant as Priscilla and Elvis
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Cailee Spaeny looks every bit the part of Priscilla. While this shouldn’t be the main priority of a biopic, it’s always amazing to see an actor transform into someone as aesthetically iconic as Priscilla Presley. The giant hair, dramatic eyes, and flawless nails all work to allow Spaeny to disappear into the role. Her small frame and youthful face also drive home the feeling that this girl is way too young to be married with a child. A shot of her holding a baby Lisa-Marie is devastating as it’s a vivid reminder that she’s still a child herself.

It does seem she could have given more if the script allowed her. Even in moments when Priscilla stays silent or says only a few words (and there are plenty), Spaeny doesn’t let the scene drown her. Even in cool deliveries of one-word answers, she plays Priscilla as a woman who has always been forced to keep her mouth shut but has something to say. It’s a shame as the performance feels underused. But for all that the material throws at her, Spaeny takes in her stride. Jacob Elordi is phenomenal as Elvis, offering a way more pared-back but still as troubled depiction as Austin Butler. He’s able to make Elvis the icon he was while also being a pathetic, drug-addicted abusive husband who loves to torment his devoted wife who is doomed to a life of tragedy himself. The two have solid chemistry and, let’s be honest, they’re both divine to look at.

Priscilla will undoubtedly leave you wanting more. More of Spaeny, more of Priscilla outside her marriage to Elvis. It succeeds in taking down an image we’ve had for decades of the world-famous singer, exposing him for the monster he was to his wife. It’s also a rare example of a film reacting to another, and its parallel to Elvis is a brilliant illustration of how movies can twist the truth based on whose perspective it follows. However, instead of a flowing narrative, it’s a series of scenes, the worst and best parts of their 13-year relationship, and doesn’t come together well enough to feel like a complete story. This combined with the lack of Coppola’s vibrant, feminine, and electric aesthetic makes Priscilla a major disappointment from a true cinematic visionary who’s capable of better.

Rating: C

The Big Picture

Sofia Coppola’s biopic of Priscilla Presley could have been truly great, but it falls short by offering a disjointed compilation of a toxic marriage. The script is straightforward, following Priscilla from her first meeting with Elvis to their tumultuous relationship over a decade. It lacks nuance and fails to delve into the depths of Priscilla’s experience. Cailee Spaeny and Jacob Elordi deliver brilliant performances as Priscilla and Elvis, but their talents alone can’t save the film from its underwhelming execution and muted aesthetic.

Priscilla screened at the 2023 BFI London Film Festival.