When teenage Priscilla Beaulieu meets Elvis Presley, the man who is already a meteoric rock-and-roll superstar becomes someone entirely unexpected in private moments: a thrilling crush, an ally in loneliness, a vulnerable best friend.

Following fairly hot on the heels of Baz Luhrmann’s ‘Elvis’, we have Sofia Coppola’s ‘Priscilla’, a biopic focusing on Priscilla Presley, Elvis’s first and only wife. Where Luhrmann’s ‘Elvis’ was all glitz and glamour and showbusiness, ‘Priscilla’ is a more understated work as it looks at Priscilla’s life over their many years together, beginning with their initial meeting at a party on a U.S. Army base in Germany. Elvis is there as he’d been drafted into the military, while Priscilla (Cailee Spaeny), 14 at the time, was there as her military father was stationed there. Elvis (Jacob Elordi), who is 10 years older than Priscilla at the time, is charming, attractive and famous, and Priscilla is immediately drawn to him, as he is to her, despite her parents objections about the age difference. We get the thrill of young love (ignoring the ick) then the slow and inevitable demise as Elvis starts to take Priscilla for granted, leaving her for longer and longer each time.

The movie follows Priscilla as she falls in love with Elvis, moves to Graceland, gets married and has their child (Lisa Marie). These are the main beats but Coppola is interested in what sits behind these headlines, what Priscilla really felt like and went through as Elvis’s initial charm was replaced by a controlling nature that restricts Priscilla’s freedom. This is both the key point the film is making, yet it’s also the reason that ‘Priscilla’ is also at times fairly mundane and difficult to engage with – Priscilla’s life is forcefully boring through Elvis’s subtle control he wields over her and this is depicted well, but it doesn’t make for the most engaging viewing. I think a slightly shorter runtime may have helped here, allowing the point to be made without labouring it for longer.

The performances are great, with Jacob Elordi embodying Elvis even more than Austin Butler did, and Cailee Spaeny particularly good at getting the innocence of a young Priscilla across (I don’t think she quite sells the older, more independent Priscilla that we start to see as the film reaches its conclusion). Elvis is portrayed as a boy unable to grow up and be an adult, always surrounded by his friends (or hangers on), which Priscilla starts to see and judge more clearly once she gets past the initial thrill of young love. I really liked Baz Luhrmann’s ‘Elvis’, but this is certainly a more grounded exploration of Elvis as we see him through Priscilla’s eyes and how he treats her. Sofia Coppola knows how to soundtrack a movie and this is no exception, with a nostalgic mix of era appropriate music and more modern efforts that blend in well, and it wisely concludes when Priscilla leaves Elvis, instead of lingering on until his death a few years later.

‘Priscilla’ is a good movie, if not a great one, and despite strong performances and Coppola’s accomplished filmmaking, it never truly grabbed me.

Rating: 3/5

Directed By: Sofia Coppola

Starring: Cailee Spaeny, Jacob Elordi, Ari Cohen, Tim Post, Lynne Griffin, Daniel Beirne and Dagmara Domińczyk

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt22041854/