Written & Directed By Sofia Coppola; Starring Cailee Spaeny, Jacob Elordi, and Dagmara Domińczyk.
Based on Priscilla Presley’s 1985 memoir titled Elvis and Me, this movie follows the life of Priscilla Wagner (Cailee Spaeny) and her relationship with Elvis Presley (Jacob Elordi). Over one year after Baz Luhrmann delivered a cradle to the grave biopic about the King of Rock and Roll with all the glitz and glamor, Sofia Coppola has delivered a more grounded biopic focusing on his wife. In fact, this movie is very different from your average biographical film about musicians.
For one, very little of Elvis’ music is actually used here (partially due to his estate not granting the filmmakers permission to do so). Luckily, there is some music of the time period the story covers that is used effectively. Although this movie didn’t need Elvis’ music because we already have enough of a compelling story here told from the perspective of his only wife. Under Sofia Coppola’s direction, everything looks so elegant from Tamara Deverell’s production design to Stacey Battat’s costumes to Philippe Le Sourd’s cinematography to the work of the hair and makeup team.
I found Cailee Spaeny to be quite wonderful as Priscilla. She perfectly passes off as an innocent 14-year-old in the beginning and we watch her mature a lot as the film goes on. Throughout, she plays with so many different emotions. Without giving anything away, she provides such heartbreaking work at the end. As the man, the myth, the legend himself, Jacob Elordi gives a very humble performance as Elvis. He also shares some pretty lived in chemistry with Spaeny. The arc their relationship goes on really is the heart and soul of this movie.
Due to how unconventional Priscilla is from a majority of musician biopics, I can see casual audiences probably not enjoying it much. The lack of music used in the film may not help either. Although I still found it to be quite a compelling look at what the spouse of a legendary performer was going through during her relationship with him. That decision made for a really interesting perspective. As someone who really disliked Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis, this was clearly a perfect palette cleanser for me.
Rating: 4/5
Based on Priscilla Presley’s 1985 memoir titled Elvis and Me, this movie follows the life of Priscilla Wagner (Cailee Spaeny) and her relationship with Elvis Presley (Jacob Elordi). Over one year after Baz Luhrmann delivered a cradle to the grave biopic about the King of Rock and Roll with all the glitz and glamor, Sofia Coppola has delivered a more grounded biopic focusing on his wife. In fact, this movie is very different from your average biographical film about musicians.
For one, very little of Elvis’ music is actually used here (partially due to his estate not granting the filmmakers permission to do so). Luckily, there is some music of the time period the story covers that is used effectively. Although this movie didn’t need Elvis’ music because we already have enough of a compelling story here told from the perspective of his only wife. Under Sofia Coppola’s direction, everything looks so elegant from Tamara Deverell’s production design to Stacey Battat’s costumes to Philippe Le Sourd’s cinematography to the work of the hair and makeup team.
I found Cailee Spaeny to be quite wonderful as Priscilla. She perfectly passes off as an innocent 14-year-old in the beginning and we watch her mature a lot as the film goes on. Throughout, she plays with so many different emotions. Without giving anything away, she provides such heartbreaking work at the end. As the man, the myth, the legend himself, Jacob Elordi gives a very humble performance as Elvis. He also shares some pretty lived in chemistry with Spaeny. The arc their relationship goes on really is the heart and soul of this movie.
Due to how unconventional Priscilla is from a majority of musician biopics, I can see casual audiences probably not enjoying it much. The lack of music used in the film may not help either. Although I still found it to be quite a compelling look at what the spouse of a legendary performer was going through during her relationship with him. That decision made for a really interesting perspective. As someone who really disliked Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis, this was clearly a perfect palette cleanser for me.
Rating: 4/5