‘Priscilla’ movie doesn’t shy away from Elvis age gap: She was 'a child playing dress-up’

NEW YORK — Sofia Coppola's latest drama is an unflinching look at two American icons.

"Priscilla" (in select theaters Friday, nationwide Nov. 3), which screened for journalists Friday morning at New York Film Festival, doesn't skate around the uncomfortable age difference between Priscilla Beaulieu (Cailee Spaeny) and Elvis Presley (Jacob Elordi), who was 10 years her senior when they were first introduced. In fact, the movie tackles it head-on.

Based on her 1985 memoir "Elvis & Me," the film begins with Priscilla, then 14, living with her parents on a U.S. Army base in Germany when she is first invited over to Elvis' house. "Why, you're just a baby," Elvis says when he learns Priscilla is still in ninth grade. Regardless, he asks her to come over again the following weekend, and they soon begin a steady courtship with her parents' blessing. ("She's much more mature than her age," Elvis assures her dad.)

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Flash forward to 1963, when a then-17-year-old Priscilla moves into Elvis' home at Graceland in Memphis, Tennessee. While he's off shooting movies, Elvis enrolls Priscilla in a "good Catholic school" so she can finish her senior year and get a high-school diploma. And when he is around, they're either pent up in his bedroom or hanging with his friends late into the night. (Occasionally, he'll feed her pills so she's alert for class the next day.)

But the relationship gradually sours, with constant newspaper headlines about Elvis' alleged affairs and his frequent outbursts that lead to physical violence. Priscilla also gets frustrated that Elvis is rarely intimate with her, and she learns to express her own needs and desires. She eventually carves out a life for herself, and chooses to leave Elvis in 1972 after four years of marriage.

Visually, the film does a harrowing job of highlighting Priscilla's young age when she started dating Elvis. The height difference between the 6-foot-5 Elordi and 5-foot-1 Spaeny is used to remarkably queasy effect, as Elvis guides the childlike Priscilla into casinos and raucous parties. ("Wow, she's so young," one reveler observes. "She's like a little girl.") At times, she looks as if she walked off the set of "Toddlers & Tiaras," with heavy makeup and towering beehives that weigh her down.

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"It is true that it's somehow like a child playing dress-up," costume designer Stacey Battat said during a post-screening Q&A. She credits Elordi and Spaeny for finding the "nuance" not only in Elvis and Priscila's relationship, but in the outfits themselves: "It's a really collaborative effort to find those details."

Spaeny grew up in Tennessee and often visited Graceland with her family. She vividly remembers her dad crying to Elvis' rendition of "If I Can Dream."

“I really understood the weight of this man as a young child,” Spaeny said. “But even having that, I had no idea about her side of the story. I was surprised it wasn’t common knowledge. It was definitely new to me, and there were some shocking, heartbreaking details. Their journey and relationship from her point of view was fascinating to dive into.”

Both Spaeny and Elordi immersed themselves in research about Elvis and Priscilla, and leaned on each other for help.

“We were pretty dorky about the whole thing,” Elordi said. “I’d say, ‘What year is this?’ And she would pull out a script, and she would have every single thing catalogued to the year."

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Elordi, 26, rose to fame on HBO’s “Euphoria” and in Netflix’s “The Kissing Booth” movies. The Australian actor is in the midst of a massive breakout year between “Priscilla,” “The Sweet East” and Emerald Fennell’s audacious new “Saltburn” (out Nov. 17).

Spaeny, 25, has made a name with roles in “Vice,” HBO’s “Mare of Easttown” and the upcoming “Alien” reboot. For her performance in “Priscilla,” she took home the best actress award at Venice Film Festival last month, besting Oscar winners such as Emma Stone (“Poor Things”) and Jessica Chastain (“Memory”).

The Presley family continues to make a significant imprint on pop culture. Baz Luhrmann’s flashy “Elvis” biopic was a box-office sensation and awards juggernaut last year, picking up eight Oscar nominations including best actor (Austin Butler). Riley Keough, daughter of the late Lisa Marie Presley, also received a best actress Emmy nomination this summer for Prime Video's music drama “Daisy Jones & the Six.”

Coppola was not in attendance at Friday's screening. "Priscilla" producer Youree Henley read a short statement by the director, who said she needs to be with her mother, whom the film is also dedicated to.

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 'Priscilla' movie tackles 'shocking' age gap, marriage to Elvis