Priscilla movie review

MOVIE TITLE: Priscilla

This celebrity coming-of-age movie by A24 is now playing in select theaters and online streaming.

RATING: R

LENGTH: 1 hour 53 minutes

MOVIE REVIEW MOM GRADE: B

IN A NUTSHELL:

The film is based on the book “Elvis and Me” by Priscilla Presley, who also worked as the Executive Producer. It features a teenage Priscilla when she met and fell in love with Elvis. The movie was directed by Sofia Coppola. She also wrote it along with Priscilla Presley and Sandra Harmon.

What’s interesting is that the Elvis Presley Enterprises declined to approve of the movie and didn’t give permission to Sofia Coppola to use any of Elvis’ famous songs. Lisa Marie Presley hated the movie and didn’t give her approval of it either. She said it made her father look like a manipulative predator. She was going to speak out against it at the movie’s release but, sadly, she recently passed away.

The movie has already won “Best Film” at the Venice Film Festival.

THINGS I LIKED:

Cailee Spaeny does an excellent job playing a young, timid Priscilla who is treated as a possession by Elvis. He keeps her primped just like the little poodle in a cage that is gifted to Priscilla. We see her transform from an almost voiceless girl to a woman who finally learns to stand up for herself. It’s amazing how much infidelity she tolerated for so long.
Jacob Elordi sounds so much like Elvis Presley! I hadn’t seen him or Cailee Spaeny in anything before and thought they both did a great job.
Elvis was 10 years older than Priscilla. She was only 5’4” tall, making her 8 inches shorter than Elvis.
They were only married for 6 years. Priscilla never remarried. In an interview, she stated that “No one could ever match him.”
I appreciated the female perspective of a woman director.
It was clever how the crew remade so many album covers, magazine covers, and other material with the face of the new actor playing Elvis.
The team did a great job taking us back to the 1960s and 1970s. Even the smallest detail was included such as the makeup brands that Priscilla used.
The hair, makeup, and costume teams did a fantastic job.
Some of the frames are absolutely gorgeous to look at.

THINGS I DIDN’T LIKE:

It’s too bad that they weren’t able to use Elvis’ actual songs in the film. Instead, they used music from Sofia Coppola’s husband’s band “Phoenix”.
What kind of a man tells his pregnant wife to leave? Elvis is portrayed as a completely spoiled narcissist.
The ending is kind of strange. Priscilla leaves alone…without her daughter? They shared custody after the divorce but the movie made it look like she abandoned their young daughter. Lisa Marie was only 9 years old when Elvis died at the young age of 42.
Of course, Elvis isn’t alive to defend this portrayal of him, yet we do know that he had many affairs and admitted that he wasn’t prepared to be a father and raise a daughter.
Some have complained that the film is just a money grab after the success of last year’s movie about Elvis Presley. The timing is curious, of course, but more interesting is to see a film from the perspective of the other person in the tumultuous marriage.

TIPS FOR PARENTS:

Kids will be very bored. So will some adults.
Firearms are shown and used.
Some profanity, including 1 F-bomb.
Drugs are consumed in many scenes.

THEMES:

Elvis Presley
Love and infatuation
Celebrity
Graceland
Exploitation
A woman’s role
Dishonesty and infidelity
Loneliness

FUNNY LINES:

“I think these clothes are too sophisticated for me.” – Priscilla “What’s sophisticated? You could go around in a feather and it’d be sophisticated.” – Elvis