Last year we got a biopic on Elvis Presley from Baz Luhrmann. However, this year we have a twist on the tale. Sofia Coppola, one of the most inspiring filmmakers of our generation, is coming out with another Presley biopic. Although, it is not about Elvis Presley rather his wife – Priscilla Presley. The film stars Cailee Spaeny in the titular role and Jacob Elordi as Elvis. Priscilla is based on a 1985 memoir by Priscilla Presley. The Sofia Coppola directorial premiered at the Venice Film Festival yesterday and has received glowing review from critics. Priscilla has debuted with a 95% rating on Rotten Tomatoes and a 6.7/10 IMDb score. Check out critics’ thoughts below.
Priscilla Reviews Roundup – Sofia Coppola’s Best?
Marlow Stern (Rolling Stone) – “People may fault Coppola for dipping her toe in familiar terrain, but it’s hard to argue with the result: a transportive, heartbreaking journey into the dark heart of celebrity, and her finest film since Lost in Translation.”
Alonso Duralde (The Film Verdict) – “Spaeny captivates throughout — Priscilla learns when to remain silent, and Spaeny’s eyes convey volumes within those silences — and she’s matched by Elordi, who captures the magnetism and the occasional monstrousness of the superstar without caricature.”
Geoffrey Macnab {Independent (UK)} – “In her own coolly analytical way, Coppola makes some trenchant points about the way Priscilla is controlled by the men in her life.” Original Score: 3/5
Richard Lawson (Vanity Fair) – “Priscilla is neither lurid nor sugar coated. It’s a sensitive, if slight, look at a young woman rousing from a dream and confronting waking life.”
Jo-Ann Titmarsh (London Evening Standard) – “Priscilla’s story is well known and audiences have most recently seen her depicted in Baz Luhrman’s Elvis biopic. So what can the filmmaker add to Priscilla’s story? The short answer is: not much.” Original Score: 2/5
Robbie Collin {Daily Telegraph (UK)} – “The film’s signature move is poking around the strange psychological grey space between being kept and being caught.” Original Score: 4/5
Nicholas Barber (BBC.com) – “A quietly affecting, sympathetic tribute to the kind of person who is a supporting character in most biopics.” Original Score: 4/5
Kevin Maher {Times (UK)} – “Elvis fans will undoubtedly be appalled. But, well, they’ll always have Luhrmann.” Original Score: 4/5
Fionnuala Halligan (Screen International) – “It is a unique story, told in a distinct way.”
Stephanie Zacharek (TIME Magazine) – “Coppola draws us into the immediacy of young Priscilla’s desires, the way her friendship-turned-romance with one extremely lonely man represented, for a time, everything she wanted out of life.”
David Ehrlich (indieWire) – “That Elvis’ estate denied Coppola the rights to most of his music works to the advantage of a movie so keyed into how removed Priscilla felt from anything that was happening in her husband’s career.” Original Score: B
Hannah Strong (Little White Lies) – “The real beauty of Priscilla is its delicate portrayal of the all-consuming fire and flood of first love, and what happens when you grow up, and begin to realise the fairytale doesn’t always have a happy ending.”
David Rooney (Hollywood Reporter) – “An impeccable union of director and subject.”
Owen Gleiberman (Variety) – “The film ushers us right into Graceland (you really feel like you’re there), showing us what happened, just as it happened, without sweetener or frills.”
Peter Bradshaw (Guardian) – “This film says a great deal about Elvis and the dysfunctional business he was in and Priscilla’s modest integrity and courage.” Original Score: 4/5
Sofia Coppola’s Priscilla will release in theatres near you on October 27th, 2023.
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