Review of Priscilla, directed by Sofia Coppola

I’ve watched every single Sofia Coppola movie that has come out; I wouldn’t call her one of my favorite directors, but I really do admire the work she’s done to center women’s stories the way she has.

Sure, there’s some work to be done when it comes to diversity and whatnot, but I think that we’re slowly making baby steps towards progress.

When Coppola was releasing her movies in the 2000s, there weren’t many women directors getting acknowledgement at all. So when I saw Priscilla was coming out, I knew I had to see it in theaters although I don’t care for Elvis Presley.

I was planning on seeing the movie at the New York Film Festival, as there was a press conference there with Sofia Coppola, and I was covering the festival for the film/television publication I write for.

But it was happening on a day when I had already would have gone home, so I sadly missed out on seeing Sofia Coppola in real life. Instead, I booked a ticket with my AMC subscription the day after it came out in order to get a first chance at it.

Anyways, I’ve rambled enough. Let’s get into the review!

Priscilla Presley’s turbulent marriage with Elvis—through her perspective.

We begin the movie with Priscilla’s family moving to West Germany. The year is 1959 and her father, who works for the army, has just been stationed in the area.

One day when she’s at the diner, another man approaches Priscilla and tells her to come to a party, as Elvis Presley is going to be there.

She’s a fan, so she asks her parents, and they say no to letting her go. But the same man comes up to them when they’re all at the diner and tells them about the event, and her father agrees.

Priscilla picks out her dress with her mother, and Elvis takes notice of Priscilla almost immediately. He even calls her baby though, as she’s a ninth grader in this point of time.

The two continue going out, he asks her father for permission to keep dating her, but eventually he has to leave her behind as his service concludes. He leaves behind Priscilla and doesn’t contact her, which breaks her heart, but three years later he gives her a call.

He tells her he loves her, and requests that she live in Graceland with him. He sends over a first class ticket so she can come and visit him, and then she meets all of his friends, business partners, and grandmother.

It’s here he introduces her to the concept of a sleeping pill, which leaves her passed out for two days, and then the two of them head to Las Vegas. Priscilla is already treated older than she already is, and takes drugs with him while they’re out gambling.

She doesn’t want to return home to Germany, but when she does, the two convince her parents to let her move in with him.

When Priscilla is dropped off, the home seems very lonely and empty, as Elvis is not there. When she enrolls in school, the students around her are gossiping about her relationship with Elvis, and Priscilla struggles as his father and stepmother don’t treat her as well as she would like.

Elvis is off in Los Angeles shooting movies, but when he comes back into town, he demands Priscilla only wear the clothes he likes, although she likes different things. He also tells her to dye her hair and wear more makeup—all of which makes her look older in the end.

She barely manages to graduate from high school, and is being driven to a breaking point as she reads about Elvis potentially dating his co-star. Priscilla flies out from Graceland to confront him about it, but then Elvis pretty much just threatens her and says that she has to do things his way.

We see this in other parts of the movie, as she fails to be able to express her needs and Elvis just shuts her down saying that she needs to consider him.

Soon, after returning home, Elvis and Priscilla become engaged. Priscilla becomes pregnant, but Elvis is growing more tense about his career, even throwing a record at Priscilla at one point, and the worsening addiction to drugs starts to impact them.

Priscilla gives birth, even doing her makeup before going to the hospital, and the two grow more distant. Priscilla even begins an affair with Mike Stone, and, in 1973, she comes to Elvis’ hotel room. When he approaches her, she admits she is filing for divorce.

She returns back to Graceland to get her things and say goodbye to everyone. As she gets in the car and drives away, emotionally wasted, Elvis’s fans are still outside cheering.

Overall Thoughts

This is a movie that’s all about the details, and I think we get that. It’s a classic Sofia Coppola movie in this sense, especially when it comes to the visual cues of isolation and despair that Priscilla is feeling. I do think the actress playing her was incredible, and

I hoped she got an Oscar nod for her performance, but she didn’t. What a job she did playing a girl across many different ages, and it was so visually jarring to see her standing next to Jacob Elordi’s Elvis.

While this isn’t my favorite movie, I can admire what Coppola did with the film!

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