Priscilla Offers An Intimate Look Into Priscilla Presley’s Life

Since her debut film, The Virgin Suicides, Sofia Coppola has demonstrated an intimate understandings of the quiet sufferings of girlhood. 

In Priscilla, which was released on Oct. 27, Coppola continues to spotlight that path. The movie chronicles Priscilla Presley’s relationship with “the King” and does not shy away from the controversies surrounding the marriage—she was 14 and Elvis was 24 when they met—and shows us how the teenager was mesmerized by the star.

For years, Priscilla has been a beautiful prop to Elvis Presley. The mother of his daughter, the guardian of his legacy. We all know Priscilla Presley for her big jet-black beehive and signature winged eyeliner, but do we know Priscilla?

Sofia Coppola’s Priscilla makes it easier to answer that. 

But that would not have been executed without the right actors. Cailee Spaeny was the perfect actress for the part, portraying Priscilla’s silent anguish with the right amount of nuance. She shines during the highs of the relationship and crumbles as we watch the marriage fall apart.

Spaeny plays Priscilla as timid but not powerless. She was a naive high school girl in love with a rock star, who was exposed to a mature world no teenager would have been able to handle. She is graceful even as she cries, demonstrating how much pressure Priscilla has always had to perform.

And Jacob Elordi gives an astounding performance as Elvis. The Australian actor pulls off an impressive accent and injects just the right amount of charisma into the role. He portrays the dark side of the musician’s personality and shows how fame and addiction rotted away his personal life. One minute he’s a dream partner, the next a nightmare.

The film’s soft aesthetic serves as the perfect contrast to the emotional roller coaster unfolding throughout the movie. The evolution from baby pinks and white lace, to bold. bright colors were a clever metaphor for a loss of innocence. 

As one would expect from a movie about a fashion icon, the wardrobe was beautiful. With a combination of original and recreated pieces, the film leaves you with closet envy. We see Priscilla grow through her wardrobe, with the emancipated Priscilla of the 70s wearing looser freeing casual clothes contrasting the stiff glamorous 60s and girly pastel coquette styles of her high school years. 

Everything from slight gestures to props feel intentional as Priscilla gives the audience an intimate view into the world of Priscilla Presley. It navigates complex realities of two American pop culture icons with the nuance one comes to expect from a Sofia Coppola film.