Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		2.0
Overall		3.5

Priscilla Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman February 9, 2024

2022's Elvis offered a flashy and arguably even glitzy take on the King of Rock and Roll, courtesy of Baz Luhrmann's typically hyperkinetic approach. A more thoughtful if perhaps slightly distanced feeling Sofia Coppola tackles the King courtesy of his "Queen" in Priscilla, but in this instance Coppola (who also adapted Priscilla Presley's memoir Elvis and Me in addition to directing) is less interested in profiling an icon for iconography's sake, or even "ripping the scab off" of perceptions of a legendary character (though she does do that), than with offering a portrait of a woman (actually, 14 year old girl to start off) who due to the vagaries of fate finds herself virtually ensnared in an environment which, while admittedly undeniably luxurious, is still something of a prison. While Luhrmann's film might be considered yet another model of his particular form of excess, Coppola's film is almost deliberately quiet, devoid of any big "Elvis moments" save for a few allusions to his performing world, and is instead an intimate dissection of a courtship and marriage that have entered the annals of American Legend, but which is still perhaps less than fully understood by many. Coppola's film may admittedly not completely clarify Priscilla's story, but it's often quite interesting, bolstered by some great performances and some luscious cinematography and production design.

A couple of years ago I placed A24 instead of a single film at the apex of my "Top 10" list, mentioning how completely peculiar and sui generis so many of the studio's offerings had been. In that regard, Priscilla is decidedly more "old fashioned", offering a straightforward and chronological survey of its subject(s), and even eschewing any "Luhrmann-esque" stylistic flourishes. That may make the film a bit "stodgy" for more contemporary tastes, but the relationship between Priscilla Beaulieu (Cailee Spaeny) and Elvis (Jacob Elrodi) is so intrinsically fascinating that there's still considerable narrative drive throughout the production. One kind of passing omission in the tale is why exactly an Army officer named West (Luke Humphrey) singles the teenaged Priscilla out at a German diner and asks her to come to a party that Elvis, then stationed in Germany, is throwing. There's almost a slight hint of West "pimping" for Elvis, which is reinforced by the reactions of Priscilla's parents, reactions which are pretty much jettisoned as soon as they're offered.

If there are occasional niggling narrative qualms like that on hand throughout Priscilla, the film has a more secure approach as it details first the almost shell shocked reaction Priscilla has to being in Elvis' company, and then her slow but steady realization that her "dream" may in fact be a nightmare. The film documents the frankly kind of bizarre early relationship between the pair, which is depicted here as relatively chaste and which takes a good, long while to actually get to the marriage stage. The whole issue of Elvis "housing" Priscilla at Graceland when she's still in high school is treated as undeniably odd but actually perhaps more emotionally salient with regard to Priscilla in how she's treated at school rather than within the context of the situation itself.

Things of course begin to unravel fairly early, and the film doesn't shirk from some of Elvis' well publicized substance abuse issues, which in turn play into his increasingly volatile temperament. By the time the two finally tie the knot, Elvis has been a veritable Professor Higgins remaking his own Eliza Doolittle into his image of what a female should be, though Priscilla is still shown as being willing to at least fitfully fight for her own identity. That fight becomes more and more literal as the story progresses, with the film ending with Priscilla finally cutting that tied knot and driving away from Graceland. If that at least alludes to Priscilla finally "finding herself" and beginning to stake her own independent claim to fame, in some ways some of the most interesting things about her life are what happened post Elvis. There's a slightly melancholic aspect to a lot of this story, something that may only be heightened by the realization of what ultimately happened to the little baby featured in some of the third act material.

Performances are generally very winning throughout, though Coppola's screenplay may rely a few too many times on Priscilla staring dejectedly or fearfully off into the distance. There are of course variances from the historical record along the way. While Elvis did kinda sorta play piano, the existing recordings and/or footage I've seen or heard of him certainly don't suggest he had his extremely distant cousin Jerry Lee Lewis' rock 'n' roll virtuosity, and while the real life Elvis did tower a bit over Priscilla by around six inches, there's an almost comical "Mutt and Jeff" disparity between Spaeny and Elordi that is especially noticeable when they're standing in close proximity to each other.

Priscilla Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Priscilla is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Lionsgate Films and A24 with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.85:1. While there's some relatively brief "home video" footage that Coppola and DP Philippe Le Sourd shot on 16mm, the bulk of this enterprise was captured with Arri Alexa 35 cameras and according to the IMDb had a 4K DI. There is quite a bit of rather fascinating material available online about this shoot and Le Sourd's approach, as well as the budgetary reasons Coppola chose to go digital for the first time, including here, here, and here, for any readers who may share by geeky interest in technical aspects. The look of this high definition presentation is often incredibly sumptuous, though it's kind of interesting to note that (as at least alluded to in some of the links offered above), the palette may not "pop" in a florid sense, but it's still unbelievably evocative. There's a kind of blush like pastel ambience to quite a bit of the film, perhaps drawing an ironic counterpart to the subtext that all is in fact not rosy in Priscilla's world. Detail levels are typically excellent throughout. There are a few low light scenes where shadow detail isn't optimal and fine detail levels ebb noticeably.

Priscilla Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Priscilla features a subtle but effectively immersive DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track. While there were probably salient reasons other than budget, this quickly shot and modestly funded production may have chosen not to license any actual Elvis music for the production to save a buck or two. The music that is here is quite interesting and offers some of the most noticeable engagement of the side and rear channels. A couple of relatively raucous sequences at things like parties or just get togethers can also feature background clamor populating the surround channels. Dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly throughout. Optional English and Spanish subtitles are available.

Priscilla Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Brushed with Beauty: Creating Priscilla's Story (HD; 10:14) is an above average EPK with some unusually interesting interviews with Sofia Coppola, Cailee Spaeny and Jacob Elordi.


• The Making of Priscilla: A Film by Liv McNeil (HD; 27:14) is a bit of a "meta" featurette, with some first person aspects concerning young filmmaker Liv McNeil, who was on set during the shoot and interviewed various production personnel. If McNeil's attempts to tether herself to Priscilla's story as "one teen shooting a making of film about another teen" may not be completely workable, this is a rather interesting piece that has a lot of fun candid footage and a real "feel" for what the shoot was like.


• Theatrical Trailer (HD; 1:40)

Additionally, DVD and digital copies are included and packaging features a slipcover.

Priscilla Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

While there are a few tidbits offered along the way that some casual Elvis fans may find unexpected, this is still kind of a surprisingly conventional look at a very unconventional couple. If the screenplay is perhaps unavoidably repetitive and frequently leaves Priscilla little to do other than be depressed, the performances are compelling and both the production design and cinematography are superb, especially considering this film was shot very quickly and without a ton of money. Technical merits are solid, and with caveats noted, Priscilla comes Recommended.