Priscilla
Priscilla
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.
Varun reviewedOctober 19, 2024
My first introduction to the star was Elvis (2022) which was a stylish well directed film but it ended up being a cliche sensationalised biopic that also barely touched on his marriage. So I was looking forward to an in-depth look in this movie. Cailee Spaeny’s acting is fantastic and captures your attention right away, giving the film a strong start. It was very eerie and gross to see how manipulative and predatory Elvis was but the director did a great job of showing Priscilla’s perspective of how a teenager falls for and becomes obsessed with a megastar. I liked the first 80 mins of the film but then it really falters. There isn’t much emotional weight between arguments and fights, and the scenes start to get repetitive and stale. I’m not pining for a melodramatic or entertaining side to a toxic relationship, but I felt the acting and drama became very subdued. I would’ve liked to see more of Priscilla’s individual life through her hobbies and interactions with her friends and family and raising her child. Biopics should strive to show a more human and realistic side to people, but here it ended up being quite one dimensional towards the latter half of the film. I think if the movie wasn’t so slow paced, they could’ve covered multiple different areas of Priscilla’s life. It’s interesting to see that their daughter Lisa Marie Presley was staunchly against the depictions in this film but Priscilla herself is an executive producer. I am in no way trying to criticise someone’s own life story, but I feel like the narrative pace and selected events weren’t fully effective at capturing all the nuances and time periods of their relationship and individual lives.