In 1959, 14-year-old Texan Priscilla Beaulieu is in Germany with the army where her father is a captain. There she meets Elvis Presley who becomes infatuated with her. Elvis always swore that the relationship wasn't consummated until Priscilla was much older and director Sofia Coppola accepts that narrative. But back in the States, she moves into Graceland at the age of 17 though she is enrolled in a local school to complete her education and surrounded by Elvis's extended family of hangers-on. Elvis is very controlling, telling her what she can and can't wear, giving her the uppers and downers he takes himself, buying her guns though, as a Texan, she's cool with that. Later he gaslights her when she sees reports of his affairs with actresses in his films, telling her that she is paranoid. It looks creepy to modern sensibilities and can't have been normal even in the 60s, even in the Deep South.They marry. Lisa-Marie is born. In the early 70s, she's had enough and leaves him. The story is told in a plain, linear way and, while the girl playing Priscilla, Cailee Spaeny, is very good, it was hard to see what the point of the film was.
Susan Kelly ● 118d