Here are Cinephile Corner’s 10 recommendations for movies like Priscilla:
Maestro
Bradley Cooper‘s Maestro, on paper, sings a seductive aria. A biopic of the iconic composer Leonard Bernstein, it promises a kaleidoscope of artistic genius, turbulent love affairs, and the intoxicating swirl of New York City’s cultural elite. Yet, the movie that stumbles onto the screen feels more like a rehearsal gone awry, leaving audiences with a bittersweet longing for the unplayed potential.
Licorice Pizza
Licorice Pizza is a love letter to Paul Thomas Anderson’s childhood experience. The movie is overflowing with teenage emotional drama. One of 2021’s best films. Alana Haim and Cooper Hoffman both give extraordinary first leading performances.
Back to Black
Back to Black is mostly a misfire, and I lack the understanding for why it exists in the first place. Maybe to boost Amy Winehouse’s Spotify streams for a few months. But given that the movie failed to make a splash at the box office, and didn’t even see much of an extended run in theaters at all, I’d venture to guess that it didn’t even do that right.
A Complete Unknown
As a Minnesotan, I feel almost obligated to enjoy A Complete Unknown, the movie that chronicles Bob Dylan’s rise to stardom while exploring his strained relationship with music and the people who helped shape his career. Dylan is undeniably one of the most famous musicians of all time—and certainly one of the most iconic figures to emerge from the land of 10,000 lakes.
Elvis
Despite stylizing the hell out of his newest movie, Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis is a colossal misfire that seems off from the jump. Told through the eyes of his manager, Elvis feels more like airing out dirty laundry than it does an honest biopic.
Past Lives
Celine Song‘s Past Lives is a revelation, despite a growing skepticism that romance movies are dead in the current streaming era. Every bit of emotion and rekindling romance is only strengthened by a nuanced approach to script and perfect casting. A real highlight of 2023.
Better Man
At the heart of any biopic lies the audience’s connection to its subject. A film’s success often hinges on how it portrays someone viewers either revere or know little about. I’ve been burned by disappointing depictions of beloved figures and pleasantly surprised by movies that delve deeply into lives I had barely explored. Better Man falls mostly into the latter category, telling the story of Robbie Williams—a member of Take That—charting his rise, struggles, and personal journey. As someone unfamiliar with Williams beyond name recognition, the film offered a compelling introduction, even if it occasionally stumbles over well-worn biopic tropes.
Song Sung Blue
Song Sung Blue feels like the platonic ideal of a holiday release, for better and for worse. It goes down easy, it wants to comfort you when you are feeling low, and it never risks getting too sharp or strange. If you are in the market for a warm, crowd-pleasing musical drama built around familiar songs, Craig Brewer gives you exactly that. If you are looking for anything with bite, surprise, or a point of view that cuts deeper than its own inspirational messaging, Song Sung Blue mostly plays like polite background noise dressed up as uplift.
Materialists
Materialists feels like a transitional work. It shows Celine Song experimenting with scale, ensemble dynamics, and new narrative textures—but it lacks the intimacy and precision that defined her first film. It’s a movie with moments that flirt with those same highs in small doses, but one that ultimately falls short. Still, it leaves me hopeful: the emotional territory Song wants to chart is rare in contemporary cinema, and while Materialists stumbles, it’s a sign that she’s aiming high. Her best films are likely still ahead.
Bob Marley: One Love
I still generally like Bob Marley: One Love more than some of the most uninspired musical biopics, but it pales in comparison to movies that better establish history through their central figures. Kingsley Ben-Adir and Lashana Lynch are remarkable in Reinaldo Marcus Green‘s underwhelming follow-up to King Richard.
READ MORE: Priscilla (2023), Sofia Coppola Movies Ranked, Best Movies of 2023
