With Elvis directed by Baz Luhrmann that came out in June of 2022 and Priscilla directed by Sofia Coppola that recently came out in October 2023, it’s safe to say that Elvis has still not left the building. Though the movies cover similar topics, they differ enough in ways that draw two completely separate audiences: those who are “Team Elvis” and those who are “Team Priscilla.”
Priscilla covers the life of Priscilla Beaulieu Presley from the time she met Elvis at age 14 to the time of their divorce, at age 27. Though the timespan through the film is only 13 years, it effectively portrays a wide range of life changes, emotions, and heartbreak for the titular character. “Elvis and Me”, Priscilla Presley’s memoir, was the film’s inspiration for the director, Sofia Coppola. The movie is told through Priscilla’s point of view — opposite of Luhrmann’s Elvis, which was told from his perspective.
The movie starts with Priscilla living in West Germany because of her stepfather’s job working as a U.S. AirForce officer. In Germany, Priscilla is an outsider with just a few friends her age. A colleague of her stepfather introduces her to Elvis Presley at a party, and ever since that moment they were inseparable. Both of their ties growing up in the American south and losing a parent was something that Elvis and Priscilla bonded over.
However, their age gap of a whopping 10 years created misconceptions about the couple. Elvis often had other relationships with his Hollywood co-stars because he was oftentimes away from Priscilla when filming movies, recording music, or traveling for press.
The Priscilla movie was a stark contrast to the flamboyant, shimmery, and alluring Elvis movie that Luhrmann created. Coppola’s feminine and fantastical film style was shown with subtle and soft dialogue broken by hints of rage that are shown by her and Elvis’s power imbalance.
Priscilla accurately painted the story of Priscilla as told by Priscilla Presley herself. Instead of Elvis being the rock-and-roll genius that he’s portrayed as in the Elvis movie, he’s shown as an antagonist. Much of Priscilla’s life seems to be taken away by Elvis in Priscilla, and she’s shown to be often silenced and not fulfilled by their relationship. He’s shown to be physically, verbally, and especially emotionally abusive whereas in Elvis, his unfaithfulness is glazed over preceding their separation and divorce.
The only thing that the Priscilla movie did not show enough of is Priscilla’s life after Elvis. The life that she created for herself after she divorced him, and sadly, the life she was forced to adapt to after losing him in 1977. Priscilla became the chairperson and president of Elvis Presley Enterprises and “helped turn Graceland into a multi-million dollar tourist attraction” according to Biography.com. She also starred on the hit 1980s show Dallas and of course wrote her memoir, “Elvis and Me.”
Priscilla showed the complexities of Priscilla Presley and the many hardships she faced while being the girlfriend and then wife of the King of Rock and Roll. “Her [Sofia Coppola’s [film is a kind of fairy tale that turns claustrophobic and cautionary,” said AP News. While Elvis romanticized the insane, chaotic, and unstable life of both Priscilla and Elvis, Priscilla showed their relationship in its raw form, full of passion and toxicity.