Director Sofia Coppola’s ‘Priscilla’ is a highly accurate adaptation of the 1985 novel ‘Elvis & Me,’ by none other than Priscilla Beaulieu Presley herself, which entailed her catastrophic romance with Elvis Presley amidst the late 1950s to the early 1970s. The film adaptation keeps true to the elegant, doll-like aesthetic of the decade, with droplets of the psychedelic ambient, further captivating the rather climatic life that Priscilla once suffered. 

The film begins in a retro diner in Germany, where young Priscilla (Cailee Spaeny) is calmly seated. She is quickly approached by a man who insists he has connections to Elvis (Jacob Elordi) and invites her to a party that evening. After she persuades her parents into approval, she later arrives at Elvis’s party, who seemingly catches limerence for her, despite the fact that she is only 14 years old, and he is 24. Elvis later invites Priscilla directly to visit him once more that week, which begins the tale of the pair. 

As the two continue to rendezvous, they quickly enter a highly intimate relationship. Spaeny and Elordi demonstrate the strong connection Priscilla and Elvis had despite Priscilla’s parents’ disenchantment with their daughter dating a much older famous man.  As their time together progresses and scheduling conflicts arise, their love suffers from deceit, lost desire, and drug abuse, which leads to friction, and eventually, their separation.

Priscilla is one of the greatest novel-to-film adaptations. It explores a number of emotions and feelings that are derived from a rather exploited, clandestine relationship Priscilla lived through. She faced the agony of being taken advantage of and watched Elvis gaslight her about his numerous public affairs. Further delving into societally overshadowed discourses such as abusive, manipulative relations and illicit affairs, Priscilla is inevitably an outstanding film that perfectly catches the audience’s attention to such issues. I enjoyed the film in its entirety, and I would definitely recommend watching the film. I rate this film 5 out of 5 stars.

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