Sofia Coppola’s Priscilla is a lush glimpse into life at Graceland from a new perspective

Sofia Coppola, known for her agonizingly beautiful portrayals of feminine melancholy, returns to form with Priscilla. Based on Priscilla Presley’s memoir Elvis and Me, Priscilla follows a young Priscilla Beaulieu (portrayed by Missouri native Cailee Spaeny) as she meets Elvis (Jacob Elordi) in 1959 while both are living in Germany, through their (simultaneously whirlwind and neglectful) courtship and marriage, up until 1973, when the two divorce.

The film carries the audience through what feels like a series of vignettes—each one closed with a decisive fade to black—in a stylistic move that makes it clear the stories we are witnessing are part of a larger narrative, one we are not privileged to absorb in its entirety. This choice strengthens the voice of the film, making it clear that viewers are experiencing the events truly through the eyes and emotions of Priscilla. 

There is little focus on Elvis’s escapades on tour or on set, except what Priscilla uncovers through tabloids at the hair salon. If you want all that, Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis is right there. Instead, Priscilla paints a picture of the excruciating loneliness its subject feels, first as Elvis’ live-in girlfriend (she finishes her high school diploma at a nearby Catholic school, where she’s ostracized by her peers) and then as his wife (where she’s always walking a tightrope, teetering between naive supporter and overbearing nag). 

Spaeny and Elordi both deliver magnificent performances, as two sides of the same coin. Elordi’s Elvis is fast-talking and braggadocious with no pretense or subtext, while Spaeny delivers her lines with crisp diction, but underscored with deep sorrow. There are undoubtedly a pile of Best Actress nominations in her future.

The buildup and breakdown of the star-crossed duo’s relationship is handled masterfully by writer-director-producer Coppola. Each step of their relationship hits its mark, and the film’s nearly two hour runtime flies by. From the moment Priscilla and Elvis meet, it is clear that they are spellbound by each other. Their meeting is almost more heart wrenching to watch than the later ones where the couple shout and argue. Even as we fall in love with Elvis alongside Priscilla, there’s always the gnawing knowledge that their relationship is unhealthy. Elordi does an excellent job of making Elvis into a reluctant antagonist. His controlling and temperamental nature not so much a result of malice, but of not having anyone in his life brave enough to tell him “no.”

While Priscilla takes some liberties with the adaptation of Priscilla Presley’s story, the strong performances from both leads, combined with brilliant set and costume design and Coppola’s steady direction, make Priscilla a truly enrapturing movie.