Month: November 2023

The 14-year-old girl who eventually becomes Mrs. Elvis Presley (at 21) and then the ex-Mrs. Elvis (at 28) gets her story told in Priscilla, a movie written and directed by Sofia Coppola and based on Priscilla Presley’s autobiography Elvis and Me.

Priscilla Beaulieu (Cailee Spaeny) is a ninth grader when we first see her in 1959, drinking a soda in a diner in West Germany where her father, who is in the Army, is stationed. She is bummed at having recently moved to West Germany and not yet having any friends. Adult soldier Terry West (Luke Humphrey) approaches her at the diner and delivers the following information: he’s seen her at the diner before; he and his wife are friends with Elvis Presley (Jacob Elordi), and would she like to go to a party and meet Elvis.

Now, look, kids, if a strange man comes up to you and says something like this, run and tell a trusted adult. Which is the opinion of Priscilla’s dad (Ari Cohen) and mom (Dagmara Dominczyk) at first. Who is this Terry and his wife, why are they taking her to meet Elvis, why would Elvis — a 24-year-old mega-star serving in the Army for two years — want to meet this barely teenage child? But eventually they relent, I guess because they think mopey Priscilla needs some excitement.

From the jump, Elvis gives off what I found myself thinking of as “vampire boyfriend” vibes. There’s a sort ofEdward from Twilight way to how he instantly takes a shine to Priscilla for no particular reason (or, maybe I should say, no non-sketchball reason). He says he likes talking to her, though she doesn’t really talk when they’re together (which, perhaps, you know, is a feature not a bug). She is dazzled, as any girl would be, by the attention of this high-wattage star and sucked in, as any young teen girl would be, by his wounded puppy pose — his stories of being lonely, like her, in Germany and being sad about the recent death of his mom. He’s grieving, he needs me, she says to her parents when they object to her seeing Elvis again. From the perch of “I remember the TV movie based on Elvis and Me”-years-old, I laughed at all of Elvis’ emo nonsense and his “you’re the most special girl” and “you’re more mature than your years” (barf) performatively gentle wooing of Priscilla. But, especially in this Sofia Coppola sourball confection, you can see how all of this goes straight to the heart of a lonely young girl. And how the kind of love and devotion she gives to him is exactly what a controlling narcissist who has surrounded himself with yes men would want. Nancy Sinatra and Ann-Margaret — two of the many women he’s linked to throughout his relationship with Priscilla — aren’t going to put him first or change themselves to suit him, the way he demands of Priscilla.

But Priscilla, wowed by Elvis, longing for his world and attention, which is indeed so much more exciting than high school, hangs on — staying in touch via phone and letters after he leaves Germany and eventually going to visit him at Graceland. There and then later on a trip to Las Vegas, they share a bed but don’t have sex. Elvis insists they wait until he decides the time is right — which turns out to be their wedding night when she is 21 years old, after years of living with him in Graceland, where she often gets left behind when he goes to make movies and have affairs. As he explains to her, the woman who is going to be with him needs to be understanding.

Here in 2023, it’s easy to identify what Elvis is doing as grooming: taking young, doesn’t-know-herself Priscilla and molding her into the wife who will ignore his cheating, put up with his absences, allow herself to be controlled down to her eye makeup by his whims, eternally be waiting for him and forgive his angry, sometimes violent outbursts. Sofia Coppola really highlights the heartbreaking nature of their relationship as we see any natural confidence or sass in Priscilla get swallowed up by the Elvis of it all. But the movie doesn’t paint Priscilla as dumb — naive, maybe, and too willing to trade everything for the happy moments. This movie is quite reminiscent of Coppola’s Marie Antoinette, with a girl who is suddenly in a rarefied life trying to figure out what to do with herself in ornate rooms and opulent clothes, surrounded by people who act very much like a royal court.

In the movie’s final third, there is something very Coppola in the way Priscilla (spoiler alert if you’ve never seen a People magazine) finds her way out. And like many a Coppola movie, we’re seeing all of this both from Priscilla’s point of view and also at a remove. We can see how she’s feeling but we never quite get to hear from her why she makes the decisions that she does. It’s frustrating — but in a way that feels intentional and also kind of enjoyable for what it leaves for us to understand based on vibes. The movie doesn’t look down at Priscilla but it does give the sense of a woman who can look back at this relationship and see what it was (real-life Priscilla Presley is an executive producer of the movie). And the whole thing gets pulled together in a well-done final sequence with maybe one of the best needle drops of recvent memory. B+

Rated R for drug use and some language, according to the MPA on filmratings.com. Written and directed by Sofia Coppola (based on Priscilla Presley’s Elvis and Me, written with Sandra Harmon), Priscilla is an hour and 53 minutes long and is distributed by A24 in theaters.

Featured photo: Piscilla.