Videos by ComicBook.com
Priscilla has caught quite a lot of awards attention since it first debuted in theaters in October of last year, with Spaeny earning a Golden Globe nomination for Best Performance by a Female Actor in a Motion Picture. While Priscilla was subsequently snubbed at the Academy Awards, earning zero Oscar nominations, the film has earned tons of critical acclaim.
What Is Priscilla About?
In Priscilla, 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 gentle best friend. Through Priscilla’s eyes, Sofia Coppola tells the unseen side of a great American myth in Elvis and Priscilla’s long courtship and turbulent marriage, from a German army base to his dream-world estate at Graceland, in this deeply felt and ravishingly detailed portrait of love, fantasy, and fame.
“I found that reality fascinating: She wasn’t allowed to have friends over to Graceland, and she’d hear other girls whispering about her,” Coppola explained in a previous interview. “She was so isolated. It was strangely relatable: In my 20s, I remember having a crush on a guy, and part of it was, if I was with him, then I wouldn’t have to develop an identity of my own: I could just be the girlfriend of this guy, and that would be so much easier. I was devastated when that relationship didn’t work out. But it forced me to find my own personality, and that’s a similar story to what happened with Priscilla—she lost herself in Elvis.”
What Is Priscilla Based On?
Written by Coppola, Priscilla is based on the 1985 memoir Elvis and Me, which was co-written by the real-life Priscilla and Sandra Harmon.
“I feel it’s only my job to show what her experience is like, and I think you present things to an audience for them to think about and make their own decisions,” Coppola explained in a recent interview with Rolling Stone. “She ultimately left and found her identity outside of men, which I thought must have taken so much strength at that time. It was a big deal to have no income and divorce a powerful man. I know what a big deal that was at that time. So I was impressed that she had the strength to do that, to leave after her whole life being shaped by that.”
Will you be checking out Priscilla once it is available to stream on Max? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!
