The Elvis movie was a story about the king himself, but now it’s time for the story of his queen Priscilla Presley. “Priscilla” directed by Sofia Coppola premiered  Nov 3. We see Priscilla’s story more clearly in this film than what was shown in “Elvis” (2022) with her being the spotlight of the film. Cailee Spaeny portrays a perfect Priscilla through the late 1950s to the early 1970s. The film is loosely based on her biography “Elvis and Me” which she wrote in 1985. Jacob Elordi costars, portraying a troubled Elvis, and the chemistry between him and Spaeny was spot on, portraying each other’s characters perfectly. 

“Priscilla”  also shows how as a society we view love when we are younger completely different than when we’re older. Throughout the film, Priscilla’s view of her future with Elvis completely evolves from what she imagined it to be when she was a 14-year-old girl and he was a grown man at the age of 24. Sofia Coppola has done her character complete justice by showing how she had to face the world of Elvis Presley and fame and at the same time, had to adapt to his choices.  She said during the film, “He taught me everything: how to dress, how to walk, how to apply make-up and wear my hair, how to behave, how to return love – his way. Over the years, he became my father, husband and very nearly God.” This quote is so powerful as it shows how deeply Elvis had manipulated her to be his “perfect woman” 

Presley praised Coppola’s portrayal of her married life with Elvis. Though Priscilla and Elvis’s daughter, Lisa Marie, had different thoughts about the film. She had pleaded to Coppopla not to release the film as she thought it was a bad portrayal of her father, showing him as a horrible man and husband, even though it is from Priscilla’s eyes. But, they went through with premiering the movie to the world, something that upset Lisa greatly.

Coppola has a history of directing and producing female tragedy films including “Marie Antoinette”, “The Virgin Suicides”, and “Lost in Translation”. The way she can capture Priscilla’s isolation and depression when she is with Elvis at times in Graceland is astonishing. She flawlessly recreates Graceland on a set without shooting on the actual land where Elvis lived with Priscilla. This will probably be one of my favorite films by Sofia Coppola and I loved how she created a woman’s life so accurately.