The Movie "Priscilla" Is Now Out, So Here's How It Re-Creates Some Iconic Moments Between Priscilla And Elvis Presley

Sofia Coppola's latest movie, a biopic of Priscilla Presley starring Cailee Spaeny and Jacob Elordi, is out now! Naturally, after viewing a limited screening at 11 a.m. with two other men who also sat alone, I went down quite the Google rabbit hole.

  Philippe Le Sourd /  A24 / Courtesy Everett Collection
Philippe Le Sourd / A24 / Courtesy Everett Collection

My two cents, as someone who is neither a historian nor a film critic, is that biopics don't need to go for shot-for-shot likeness to successfully convey the life it's depicting. This isn't to say that Priscilla isn't loyal to Priscilla's own retelling of their relationship — the real Priscilla's story is even quoted in the trailer — but that it is a wholly beautiful and evocative movie that sidesteps the "I could have just read the Wikipedia page" vibe of some other notable biopics.

  Ken Woroner / A24 / Courtesy Everett Collection
Ken Woroner / A24 / Courtesy Everett Collection

That being said, for those whose interest in the historical relationship has been piqued, here are some side-by-sides of Priscilla next to the people themselves:

To begin with, here's Priscilla as we meet her in the movie at age 14. There aren't any publicly available photos of Priscilla at this age, but there is this one of her at age 16. It's worth mentioning that the necklace she wore is re-created in the movie itself.

<div><p>"People always said I was the prettiest girl in school, but I never felt that way," Priscilla <a href="https://go.redirectingat.com/?id=74679X1524629&sref=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.buzzfeed.com%2Fnatashajokic1%2Fpriscilla-movie-jacob-elordi-cailee-spaeny-pics&url=https%3A%2F%2Fpeople.com%2Farchive%2Fcover-story-we-have-plenty-of-time-little-one-vol-23-no-11%2F&xcust=7563395%7C0%7CRSS%7C39288831&xs=1" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank" data-ylk="slk:later said;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas" class="link ">later said</a> of her early teen years.</p></div><span> Sabrina Lantos / A24/ Courtesy Everett Collection, Bettmann / Bettmann Archive</span>

During their first encounters, Elvis was 24 (I've edited this photo of Jacob to be a little brighter, for the purposes of this post). Here's the real Elvis a year younger than that, when he first started his military service.

Priscilla later wrote of meeting Elvis,

Then we have the moment where Elvis left West Germany to return to the US, which was actually captured by photographers.

<div><p>"I dreaded this day very much because I didn’t know if I would ever see him again,” Priscilla <a href="https://go.redirectingat.com/?id=74679X1524629&sref=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.buzzfeed.com%2Fnatashajokic1%2Fpriscilla-movie-jacob-elordi-cailee-spaeny-pics&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cheatsheet.com%2Fentertainment%2Felvis-presley-teenage-priscilla-not-to-do-this-during-heartbreaking-goodbye-germany.html%2F&xcust=7563395%7C0%7CRSS%7C0&xs=1" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank" data-ylk="slk:later said;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas" class="link ">later said</a> of the moment. "One request that he asked was that I not be teary-eyed."</p></div><span> Sabrina Lantos / Courtesy Everett Collection, Ullstein Bild Dtl. / ullstein bild via Getty Images</span>

A crucial point of the movie is when Priscilla, at the behest of Elvis, changes her look to include more eyeliner and darker hair. Here's the real-life Priscilla in 1963, traveling with the dog that Elvis bought her.

Priscilla later said of her early relationship with Elvis,

Of course, we have to mention the wedding itself. The ceremony happened in a suite at the Las Vegas Aladdin in 1967, followed by a press conference (which is where the enormous cake was).

Priscilla actually had to go in disguise to find her wedding dress so she wouldn't be recognized, and later said of it,

Nine months to the day after their wedding, Lisa Marie was born. Priscilla was indeed in full glam when she left the hospital in Memphis.

After realizing she was in labor, Priscilla did actually take the time to fix her hair and makeup. She wrote of the labor itself in her memoir,

The film also depicts Elvis leaving his family in Graceland to go on tour. While there isn't an exact reference photo available, it certainly suggests the style the family had in the late '60s.

<div><p>"Living at Graceland was difficult but I knew when I got married that he was going to have his guys around all the time. I could not domesticate Elvis, and I accepted that. He didn't really have that much to do with the practical stuff but I took naturally to becoming a mother," Priscilla <a href="https://go.redirectingat.com/?id=74679X1524629&sref=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.buzzfeed.com%2Fnatashajokic1%2Fpriscilla-movie-jacob-elordi-cailee-spaeny-pics&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theguardian.com%2Flifeandstyle%2F2012%2Fdec%2F08%2Fpriscilla-presley-my-family-values&xcust=7563395%7C0%7CRSS%7C39291138&xs=1" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank" data-ylk="slk:said in 2012;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas" class="link ">said in 2012</a> of Elvis's parenting.</p></div><span> Magma Agency / WireImage</span>

Finally, the film also re-creates a photo shoot the couple did in real life (and that Jacob re-created for Halloween one year with his ex, Kaia Gerber, who is currently dating Elvis actor Austin Butler). It shows both of their style evolutions, as depicted in this other image from 1970.

And that's all we have, until the movie comes out digitally and I can scrub my way through it!