Director: Sofia Coppola
Starring: Cailee Spaeny, Jacob Elordi, Ari Cohen, Dagmara Domińczyk
Certificate: 15
Run Time: 114 mins

Priscilla is the new Sofia Coppola film, based on the 1985 memoir Elvis and Me by Priscilla Presley, who also gets an executive producer credit. It follows the life of Priscilla and her complicated relationship with Elvis Presley, from 1959 when she’s 14 years old to 1973. The film opens on Priscila living on a West German military base with her mother and army father. She’s invited to a party where Elvis will be playing, having been drafted into the military and the two begin casually dating as soon as they meet, despite the significant age difference. 

Although inert in places, Priscilla is a somewhat interesting biopic with Coppola’s typically understated touch. Priscilla and Elvis’ relationship has an uncomfortable air about it throughout the film, particularly how Elvis takes a shine to her. It’s very much a Gothic melodrama and akin to a twisted fairy tale. Coppola interestingly keeps Elvis’ public persona largely off-screen and largely refrains from Elvis music in the soundtrack.

The main positives of the film are the performances. Cailee Spaeny is brilliant as Priscilla, effortlessly conveying her naivety in her younger years and her growing wisdom about her effective entrapment as she matures. Jacob Elordi is also strong as Elvis Presley, a completely different performance compared to his impressionable turn in Saltburn. He’s an individual desperately in need of control, with flashes of darkness and quite literally towers over Priscilla.

Although it suffers from sluggish pacing at times, Priscilla is an alternative take on the King of Rock and Roll. It mainly works because of its committed performances and Coppola’ cold, analytical approach to Elvis and Priscilla’s spiky relationship. It’s certainly a more rewarding experience than Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis, which I really struggled to engage with despite its critical acclaim.