It's one thing being famous, and quite another being married to fame. Sofia Coppola's Priscilla isn't the methodical biopic that some will no doubt be expecting but rather an episodic, ethereal character study of a girl placed in an unconventional relationship at a very young age, almost beyond her own agency. Cailee Spaeny is an elemental revelation as Priscilla, an angelic beauty handpicked from her idyllic teenage-hood by the king of rock and roll himself (Jacob Elordi) and whisked away to fabled Graceland where the romance and eventual marriage to him don't quite end up being the storybook ending she anticipated. Coppola keeps it meticulously spare here, using none typical soundtrack choices, story beats or stylistic fanfare employed in these kind of stories. It's very much from her perspective and so it should be, this is after all a film named for her. A frustrating, often smothering courtship and marriage are told through a gauzy, lacy lens with beautiful period appropriate production design, hypnotic fade ins and fade outs and the strong undercurrent of Spaeny's uncanny acting work. I've been watching her since she walked away with the otherwise mediocre Bad Times At The El Royale a few years back, she's done terrific work for Alex Garland in Devs and will headline the new Alien film out next year. I had an intuition she was going to do very well and this role lets her shine, often quietly but always brightly.
Review of Priscilla
