Priscilla

In profiling a celebrity couple, the unassuming biopic Priscilla takes after its namesake, avoiding tabloid gossip while exuding a quiet dignity.

That’s where this romantic coming-of-age drama from director Sofia Coppola (Marie Antoinette) finds its rhythm — by exploring how Priscilla Presley found her empowered voice as more than an accessory or sidekick to one of the most famous men in the world.

It begins in 1959 in Germany, where Elvis Presley (Jacob Elordi) already has an established following while serving in the Army. He becomes enchanted by 14-year-old Priscilla Beaulieu (Cailee Spaeny) at a party and asks to see her again, and again.

Given their age difference — Elvis was 24 at the time — his forward advances feel unsettling when viewed through a contemporary lens. Still, their whirlwind courtship conveys a wholesome throwback charm.

It starts with a schoolgirl crush that blossoms even as her strict parents remain reluctant to give their blessing. After she moves to Graceland while still in high school, his fame becomes a burden for them both, individually and collectively.

Priscilla tries to keep Elvis grounded, although her suspicious mind confronts him over allegations of affairs on movie sets that she’s conveniently not allowed to visit. He shows affection privately while shielding her from the public spotlight. His devotion seems half-hearted, as the headlines suggest.

Meanwhile, her gradual resistance to his controlling behavior and party-hearty ways strips away her teenage naivete. Even before the couple is married and Priscilla later gives birth to daughter Lisa Marie, showing hesitancy about motherhood, his drug habits and increasingly erratic behavior spark friction in their relationship.

Spanning more than a decade, the film is immersed in meticulous period detail, from décor and fashion to expressions and mannerisms.

Coppola’s screenplay, adapted from Priscilla Presley’s memoir, starts by leaning into the swooning innocence of young love for a woman forced to mature ahead of her years.

Priscilla tends to skim the surface rather than digging deeper into some of more well-known highlights. Yet while it’s predictable in a broader narrative sense, the film resonates more strongly in its intimate, character-driven moments.

Fully committed performances by Spaeny (Pacific Rim: Uprising) and Elordi (“Euphoria”) bolster a film that’s not as edgy or subversive as it might have been. But this tender and sympathetic portrait effectively sidesteps the usual rise-and-fall trajectory in favor of what’s in between.

Rated R, 113 minutes.