Baz Luhrmann’s toe-tapping, grandiose 2022 biopic of The King was seen as the definitive Elvis Presley movie, but auteur Sofia Coppola illuminates the dark underbelly of a man previously considered above reproach.

Priscilla depicts Elvis’s undesirable traits, but instead mainly focuses on the relationship between the 24-year-old crooner and a 14-year-old Priscilla Beaulieu, starstruck and naive. From their first meeting to an early marriage and pregnancy, we’re given a quietly contemplative look at a relationship that should have never happened.

The embodiment of Priscilla by Cailee Spaeny is so fluid that you’ll feel like you’re literally witnessing the birth of a movie star. Her Best Actress win at the Venice Film Festival was well-deserved, and if there’s justice in Oscar-land, you’ll hear her name when nominations are announced.

Austin Butler may have given a rousing, Oscar-nominated turn just last year, but Jacob Elordi (Euphoria) is magnetic and his presence is felt in every frame, though the stage presence of his subject takes a backstage seat to the love story at the centre of this film. In so many ways, Elordi’s companion-piece performance is more muted, evocative and honest than Butler’s — A less showy interpretation that speaks unavoidable volumes.

Coppola — known for Lost In Translation and Marie Antoinette — acts as a fly-on-the-wall, exposing us to the cheating, alienation and the jealousy, without ever inserting herself into the story. But believe me, as an audience, you’ll be positively enthralled and enraged all the same.

4/5 Stars