“Priscilla” (2023) Review

The Devil in Disguise:

Imbalanced Reception of Priscilla stars

By Maile Di Paolo

Something in the air shifted when Jacob Elordi strolled onstage at the premier for Sofia Coppola’s new film, “Priscilla”, at the New York Film Festival. Due to the ongoing actor’s guild strike, none of the audience had expected the film’s stars to attend, which became evident over the collective swoon that fell upon the room as Elordi was announced.

 However, the applause and general reception that Cailee Spaeny’s entrance received was almost calm in comparison to the excitement Elordi had seen. This could have been the effect of the shock factor of the actors’ unexpected presence, but it certainly reflects the imbalanced response to the stars’ performances that I have observed thus far. 

Granted, Jacob Elordi has effortlessly assumed the iconic role, and deserves the praise. I deeply enjoyed his mumbling, suave portrayal of Elvis (especially appreciating the lack of gravitas as he became the character, in comparison to the extravagant, method-acty approach we witnessed in 2022’s “Elvis”). But why is it that as I scroll through film Twitter (X, sorry), I only find discussion about Elordi’s performance? Neverending comparisons to Austin Butler’s portrayal, praise for his only background and impression of Elvis being Lilo and Stitch (2002), and general thirsting over him. @feminterrupted writes, “the jacob elordi agenda is working on me”, which about sums up my entire timeline at the moment. We MUST turn the focus to the captivating Cailee Spaeny.

She is a magnet. Paired with Coppola’s beautifully precise directing and Stacey Battat’s costuming, I could not take my eyes off of Spaeny the entire film, nor did I want to. Her gentle expressions capture hesitancy, disappointment, love; she leads the audience through Priscilla’s perspective, making us fall in love with Elordi and then into horror and then into sweet liberation. Subtly is undoubtedly Spaeny’s strength in Priscilla, expertly mirroring the shyness and smittenness anyone who has experienced being a teenage girl can wholeheartedly relate to. With Priscilla’s involvement in the film, we also see the love and gentle moments between the two- - a peek into what kept this tumultuous relationship together (as well as the immense pressure and expectations from public figures in the 50s). 

I cannot urge you enough to support this film upon its November 3rd release date, but what I insist upon even more so is to observe Spaeny, and become as captivated by her as I am. She deserves all the recognition and more.