Priscilla: An Intimate Look At The Personal Life Of Pop Culture Royalty

Last year, Baz Luhrmann released Elvis which took the life of Elvis Presley and mythologized it in the form of a superhero movie. Like many biopics about musicians, this movie may not have been the most accurate, however, considering the way it was stylized most viewers did not walk away from that film assuming they had complete knowledge of Elvis as a human. That’s where Priscilla picks up, telling the story of their marriage through the eyes of Elvis’ wife Priscilla and what she went through in that relationship. While it may not be the most flattering to Elvis, it is a more accurate depiction of the man behind the legend.

Priscilla follows the life of Priscilla Beaulieu (Cailee Spaeny) as she meets Elvis Presley (Jacob Elordi) and enters into a relationship with him starting at the age of 14 and tracks their relationship through its end. Sophia Coppola directed this movie with a script based on Priscilla Presley’s memoir Elvis and Me.

Considering the movie is based on her memoir, it seems like the script takes Priscilla’s own words and reflects them back without romanticizing them. It almost functions as a therapy session where things portrayed as a positive are reflected back to accurately depict the messed-up reality of the situation. Things that may have been portrayed as personality quirks are more accurately portrayed as abusive behaviors with Priscilla as the victim. The rampant emotional manipulation, mental abuse, and at times physical abuse are not sugar-coated which allows for these moments to really just hang in the air for maximum resonance.

A movie like this could not have success without the strong acting abilities of the two leads Jacob Elordi and Cailee Spaeny. Spaeny’s performance is understated and nuanced as Priscilla, allowing her to go through a lot of development over the course of the film both physically and in her performance. Elordi’s performance is a little more on the nose, however since Elvis is designed to be a more static character, this works within the confines of the movie because Elvis is not supposed to change. In his performance he does capture the essence of the emotionally abusive husband who has his wife completely under his thumb perfectly (even if he has one line delivery that comes off as comedic even if it may not have been intended to be).

Unlike Luhrmann’s portrayal, Priscilla is not designed to honor this family that many would consider American royalty, instead it is designed to pull back the curtain and show viewers that a lot of the time the public portrayal of someone’s life may not match the reality of the situation. This is one of the best movies of the year and is worth the trip to the theater to watch.

Final Rating: 10/10