“Priscilla”

There is no denying that Sofia Coppola is a talented director, and her style and flair is the ideal match for “Priscilla,” a film that tells Priscilla Presley’s story of her love affair with Elvis. It’s a visually stunning film from start to finish (and the lead performances show an impressive amount of depth and range), but Coppola too often falls into the trap of conventional biopic tropes in this repetitive, disturbing story.

When she was just a teenager, Priscilla Beaulieu (Cailee Spaeny) met rock and roll legend Elvis Presley (Jacob Elordi) at a party on a German military base. This started an unorthodox (and illegal) relationship that would grow into one of the most well-known marriages the world has ever known. After dozens of films that focus on Elvis’ point of view, this one refreshingly tells the story through Priscilla’s eyes. Coppola shows the unseen side of a relationship that many claim to know, but few have ever explored. She does not shy away from the unsettling courtship, obsession, turbulent marriage, and fallout from infidelity and fame in this story of loneliness and heartbreak.

The film is technically proficient and well made, but I found the way the subject matter is presented to be extremely problematic. It’s hard to go with Elvis and Priscilla’s love story when their relationship is so toxic, and Coppola makes the choice to present it in a dreamlike, romantic way. Elvis was 24 when he first started dating Priscilla, who was only 14. Fourteen. I understand times may have been different back then, but it’s highly creepy and disturbing how easy it was for to Elvis take advantage of an underage, love struck teenager. He may not have crossed the line physically (at least the film doesn’t imply that), but he was an obvious groomer. The ick factor that surrounds the entire relationship is just too much to overcome in this day and age.

It is shocking that Priscilla’s parents would allow her to move to Memphis and live at Graceland with a grown man while she finished high school, and the film never addresses what made Elvis so obsessed with the young girl except for the fact that he could mold her into anything he wanted. Coppola addresses the more unpleasant side of Elvis, from his controlling and manipulative nature (he even told his wife what type of clothes to wear, how much makeup to use, and what color to dye her hair), his tendency to threaten and bully, and his dangerous obsession with guns and drugs. These are Priscilla’s facts, and it’s interesting to see Elvis from the perspective of someone who lived with him for years because there isn’t much left of the story to tell.

Coppola wisely keeps her focus on Priscilla, telling her story as a partner to Elvis from their initial meeting through the birth of their child to her eventually mustering the courage to leave and file for divorce after years of neglect and emotional abuse. What doesn’t work is that the story is presented in a way that expects audiences to root for the pair to be together, and it makes it even more unpleasant knowing that Priscilla felt disrespected and trapped in a toxic marriage. She stayed with him for far too long, which casts an unsavory shadow on their entire relationship.

The film is extremely slow, repetitive, and exhausting to sit through because it feels ten times longer than it actually is. The early romance portion of the story is better than the later days (which is rushed through during the last half hour), but the middle is where it really lags. Scene after scene of Elvis having an outburst of anger then apologizing profusely while suggesting that he’s out having affairs is tiresome and slows down the pacing. A good chunk of the movie is spent with the camera focused on a sad-looking Priscilla, which adds to the misery of the audience, too.

In the end, there just isn’t much story about this relationship that hasn’t been told, which makes “Priscilla” feel frustrating and dull.

By: Louisa Moore