Content Advisory: Rape and Sexual Assault, Abuse, Underage romance/statutory rape, Needles or drug addiction
The story of the tumultuous relationship between Priscilla Beaulieu and Elvis Presley is told in Priscilla. In 1959, 14-year-old Priscilla Beaulieu (Cailee Spaeny) is living in Germany with her stepfather Captain Beaulieu (Ari Cohen) and mother Ann (Dagmara Dominczyk). Priscilla is invited to a party hosted by an army cadet and rock and roll superstar Elvis Presley (Jacob Elordi). Elvis becomes enamoured with Priscilla, and she is eventually invited to live with him at Graceland with his father Vernon (Tim Post) and Grandma โDodgerโ (Lynne Griffin). Despite being the love of Elvisโ life, Priscilla ends up having a lonely existence while the King is on the road.
Priscilla Synopsis
Priscilla is a biopic written and directed by Sofia Coppola (Lost in Translation, On the Rocks), based on Priscilla Presleyโs 1985 autobiography

My Thoughts on Priscilla
While Iโm unsure how long Sofia Coppola has been working on Priscilla, it is probably no coincidence that the film is arriving a little over a year after Baz Luhrmannโs Elvis, with Priscilla acting as a counterpoint to that film. One fact that Priscilla does not shy away from is that Priscilla Beaulieu was only 14 years old when she first met 24-year-old Elvis Presley. From a modern viewpoint, this relationship can be interpreted as Elvis grooming the underage Priscilla, even though she maintains in both her autobiography and recent interviews that the relationship never became sexual after their marriage, at which time Priscilla was 21.
Even without the uneasy ten-year age difference, Priscilla doesnโt really portray Elvis in a positive light, as he would frequently leave Priscilla alone at Graceland while the tabloid spread rumours of numerous affairs. In many ways, Priscilla is more about the years of loneliness she helps, as Priscilla and Elvis lead separate lives. Even the birth of their daughter didnโt slow the rock and roll superstar down.
Speaking of their daughter, while Priscilla was produced with the cooperation of Priscilla Presley, who has an Executive Producer credit, her daughter Lisa Marie Presley was reportedly not happy with the depiction of her father as a manipulative predator. She had been planning to speak out against the film but tragically passed away earlier this year before filming even commenced. While I donโt know what Lisa Marie Presley would have thought of the final film, I understand why she would be upset after watching it.
I do have to praise the lead performance of Cailee Spaeny (Bad Times at the El Royale, On the Basis of Sex) for believingly being able to portray Priscilla Presley from a 14-year-old teenager to her mid-20s, thanks to period-accurate makeup and hairstyles. Sadly, the same canโt be said for Jacob Elordi (Euphoria) as Elvis Presley, who is very likely going to be unfavourably compared to last yearโs performance by Austin Butler in Elvis, with Elordiโs performance coming off much more like an imitation.
Ultimately, while Priscilla does work as a counterpoint to Baz Luhrmannโs Elvis, it doesnโt end up being as memorable by the end.