A cool, precise, and often devastating portrait of a young woman absorbed into a gilded cage. Sofia Coppola turns a famous romance into a study of loneliness, control, and self-erasure, with strong visual style and a quietly forceful lead performance.
Priscilla
Where to watch: Buy
Movie · Drama · Romance
Fri · 1h 53m
Director: Sofia Coppola
Starring: Cailee Spaeny, Jacob Elordi, Ari Cohen
Overview
When teenage Priscilla Beaulieu meets Elvis Presley at a party, 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.
Director
Sofia Coppola
Cast
Cailee Spaeny, Jacob Elordi, Ari Cohen
Curator Review
Verdict
A cool, precise, and often devastating portrait of a young woman absorbed into a gilded cage. Sofia Coppola turns a famous romance into a study of loneliness, control, and self-erasure, with strong visual style and a quietly forceful lead performance.
Best for
fans of restrained character studies
viewers interested in women-centered stories about power imbalance
audiences who like elegant, mood-driven filmmaking
people drawn to celebrity myth deconstruction
fans of coming-of-age stories with a dark edge
Skip if
you want a conventional biopic with a broad historical sweep
you prefer high-energy music-movie spectacle
you are looking for a sweeping, passionate romance
you dislike slow, observational storytelling
you want Elvis as the central character
Overview
Priscilla is less interested in the legend of Elvis Presley than in the private emotional weather around him. Sofia Coppola filters the story through Priscilla Beaulieu’s perspective, making the film feel intimate, hushed, and increasingly claustrophobic. What begins as teenage fascination gradually reveals itself as a portrait of isolation, dependency, and control.
Worth noting
The film’s power comes from its understatement. It doesn’t need to shout to make its point; the costumes, interiors, and careful framing do the work, turning Graceland into a beautiful trap. Cailee Spaeny gives the movie its center with a performance that shifts from wide-eyed curiosity to hard-earned disillusionment.
Bottom line
For viewers who respond to atmosphere and emotional precision, this is one of Coppola’s sharpest works. It’s a romance only in the most uneasy sense: a story about desire, fantasy, and the cost of being seen only as someone else’s idea of a woman.
Top Letterboxd reviews
Jay (3.5★) · 41735 likes
every time jacob elordi stood next to a car i thought no way is he fitting in there
ram<3 (5★) · 31797 likes
she's everything, he's just elvis
zoë rose bryant (4.5★) · 26247 likes
made me want a man and then never want to see one again for the rest of my life
klaasvaak333 (3.5★) · 22726 likes
god Lana Del Rey is gonna love this
jeaba (3.5★) · 19658 likes
it should be illegal to show any version of this movie where elvis doesn’t have subtitles
Themes
celebrity and myth, grooming and power imbalance, female subjectivity, loneliness, control and confinement, coming of age, desire and disillusionment, identity erasure