One of the very best films of the year, Sofia Coppola’s Priscilla is a pitch-perfect look at the darker side of Graceland, refiguring the legacy of Elvis (Jacob Elordi) solely through the eyes of Priscilla Presley (a wonderful, Venice-winning performance by Cailee Spaeny). Ahead of the film’s North American premiere as New York Film Festival’s Centerpiece selection followed by A24’s wide release on November 3, the new trailer has now arrived.
Luke Hicks said in his rare A-grade Venice review, “There’s no big screaming match in Priscilla, no takedowns, no zingers. It’s a refreshing and unexpected choice for a movie that ends in divorce. A child of her father, Coppola has a sixth sense for the language of cinema, for communicating complex themes effectively without being heavy-handed or coercive. Take, for instance, the Vegas phase. It seems like a unwieldy period to cover, but she tells us everything we need to know in two shots, the weight of a feature within them: Elvis at rock-bottom in his legendary Vegas penthouse, a cave-like darkness swallowing him and hellish neon glow pulsing through the windows as if he’s trapped inside a lit cigarette, each drag from the giant demon smoking it a soul-sucking experience; then Priscilla in Los Angeles, in the sun, meeting new people, laughing, smiling, open––as simple (and rewarding) as a great conversation.”
See the trailer below.
Priscilla makes its NYFF Centerpiece premiere this Friday and opens wide on November 3.