Rock n’ Roll never died, Elvis Presley is ensuring the genre stays as lively as possible decades after his death in 1977. For years now, especially in the recent ones, we have seen multiple movies about musicians taking over our movie theaters. These films include major actors and actresses taking their own spin on the Elvis name, all the good and all the bad.
In the last ten years, five films have been produced centering either Elvis himself or Priscilla Presley, the woman he was married to from 1967-1973. These films include Elvis (2022), Elvis Presley: The Searcher (2018), Elvis & Nixon (2016), Priscilla (2023), and EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert (2025). Actors such as Austin Butler, Michael Shannon, and Jacob Elordi have had a glimpse into what it was like to be Elvis Presley himself. In the film Priscilla, we saw for the first time the perspective of Priscilla Presley, portrayed by Cailee Spaeney. It was the first film to show the inside life of Priscilla, who had met Elvis when she was only fourteen and married him when she was twenty-one.
With every film that is based on a real story, we always see fabrication in details and events portrayed differently than how they actually occurred. In the latest movie that focused on Elvis himself, Elvis, audiences argued that the film did not accurately show events in his life such as his substance abuse problems, his behavior, or his relationships. While some say that the film did show the aftermath of these parts of his life, those who have researched Elvis state that the film “glosses over” the darker elements and avoids going into the negative aspects of him.
Elvis, though we know him as “The King,” was not always the generous man the media has often made him out to be. To mention again, he met the woman he married, Priscilla, when she was only fourteen years old and he was twenty-four. She was not the only underaged girl had ever rumored to be with, as many statements regarding relationships with fourteen year old girls when he was twenty-two and having a girlfriend of fifteen when he was nineteen. Arguments have been made that he sought over young, impressionable girls due to his obsession with the concept of virginity.
Despite him marrying Priscilla in 1967, he was never known to be a loyal husband. He was promiscuous throughout their marriage, which ended in divorce in 1973. We learn more about their romance in the Priscilla film that follows her life with Elvis from when she met him to when she decided to leave him. The film portrays her life at Graceland, where she faced isolation and control by Elvis, diving into her perspective on the relationship. Within this perspective, the audience sees the darker side of Elvis that the media has not always been transparent about. It explores the effects of Elvis’s temper, his drug addiction, and his infidelity on young Priscilla. Instead of placing attention upon his music career, Priscilla’s story is told to the world in a way that shows the true struggles she endured during their marriage.
The music industry is home for many dark secrets, this has become especially apparent in recent years. However, the movie industry does not always need to follow the footsteps of who was major within the music world. Producers are still reaching for the Presley name to break the box office records, but the world does not need to hear anymore than has already been developed. Having the last major film, not documentary-based, be centered around Priscilla Presley’s experiences helps to educate more individuals on the dark truth behind the Presley name. Rock n’ roll will live on, but there are many names to choose from with a lighter story to share.
