Elvis
Warner Bros. Pictures | Release Date: June 24, 2022 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
64
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 60 Critic Reviews
Positive:
36
Mixed:
19
Negative:
5
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
We Got This CoveredAshley MarieJun 27, 2022
For fans of Presley himself, this is the story you’ve been waiting for, and with “Unchained Melody” in your head, you’ll leave the theatre with more respect for Presley, for those you love, and for anyone who has ever been burnt by the hand that should have shown them comfort. Read full review
100
The Observer (UK)Mark KermodeJun 27, 2022
It’s a riotously audacious work. Read full review
100
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalleJun 21, 2022
It’s extraordinary how Luhrmann is able to tell this story honestly, while still making it palatable. It’s equally extraordinary that he can take this short and tragically misdirected life and make it feel like a triumph. Read full review
91
Entertainment WeeklyJoshua RothkopfMay 25, 2022
It may not be slavishly devoted to the facts (this isn't your typical birth-to-deather), but as with Todd Haynes's glam fantasia Velvet Goldmine, the movie achieves something trickier and more valuable, mining shocking intimacy from sweeping cultural changes. Read full review
90
Los Angeles TimesKatie WalshJun 23, 2022
At the center of Baz Luhrmann’s sprawling pop epic Elvis, a film as opulent and outsize as the King’s talent and taste, Butler delivers a fully transformed, fully committed and star-making turn as Elvis Presley. The rumors are true: Elvis lives, in Austin Butler. Read full review
90
Little White LiesAnna BogutskayaMay 26, 2022
Tensing, thrusting, dripping with sweat and the promise of a good time after the curtain falls, Butler gets the moves, the voice and, most importantly, Elvis’ charisma down. Whatever flaws the film has, Butler’s Elvis is mesmeric. Read full review
89
Austin ChronicleTim StegallJun 23, 2022
2022’s Elvis is a typical Luhrmann film: lush, grandiose, epic, stylish to the millionth degree. Read full review
88
New York PostJohnny OleksinskiJun 23, 2022
A movie that runs on jet fuel and confetti, Elvis is a tribute to Presley’s innovative spirit, deep passion for fusing blues, country and gospel music and the intense connection he had with his audience Read full review
88
Chicago Sun-TimesRichard RoeperJun 20, 2022
If you thought the magnificently flamboyant Luhrmann was well-suited to put the flashiest of spins on “The Great Gatsby,” you can imagine what he does with the made-for-overkill mythology of Elvis — and from the moment we see a bejeweled version of the Warner Bros. Pictures logo, we know Luhrmann is going to flood our senses with a nonstop medley of arresting sights and sounds, never taking his foot off the directorial gas pedal. Read full review
88
Movie NationRoger MooreJun 17, 2022
Elvis works, often brilliantly and always beautifully, a musical bio-pic that’s a little bit “Ray” and “I Walk the Line,” with hints of “Get on Up” “Judy” and “Rocket Man.” It can be frustrating, like the man himself. And who’s to say if its appeal won’t be limited generationally, racially or geographically? Read full review
87
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Barry HertzJun 23, 2022
Elvis is as much a ride following the highs and lows of the musician’s fabulously rich and sad life as it is a one-way journey into the extremities of its director’s exhaustive imagination. For better, and worse. Read full review
83
UproxxVince ManciniJul 14, 2022
Elvis – in so many ways a sort of kitsch-art earnest version of Walk Hard – is to the traditional musician biopic what Las Vegas is to a traditional city. An idealized reality so manically constructed that it becomes a sort of grotesque, like an absurd parody of Americana rendered in pastel Formica and crushed velvet. It’s real sicko shit, and in that sense it’s hard not to love it. Read full review
83
ConsequenceAl ShipleyJun 16, 2022
Luhrmann and Butler have made a compelling and at times wildly entertaining portrait of Elvis Presley — no thanks to Hanks. Read full review
80
NMEAlex FloodJul 15, 2022
Though it plays like a glitzy musical in the mould of Bohemian Rhapsody, Elvis also works as a much-needed lesson about America’s cultural history. Read full review
80
Time OutPhil de SemlyenMay 26, 2022
Every trick and technique here, from ingenious match cuts, to split screens and even comic-book cells, works to soup up the storytelling. Read full review
80
Total FilmJordan FarleyMay 25, 2022
The toe-tapping beats of this full-throated biopic will be familiar in more ways than one but Baz Luhrmann, like Elvis, knows how to put on a great show. Butler’s Best Actor chatter starts here. Read full review
80
The TelegraphRobbie CollinMay 25, 2022
Yes, it’s a bright and splashy jukebox epic with an irresistible central performance from Austin Butler . . . But in that signature Luhrmann way, it veers in and out of fashion on a scene-by-scene basis: it’s the most impeccably styled and blaringly gaudy thing you’ll see all year, and all the more fun for it. Read full review
80
The IndependentClarisse LoughreyMay 25, 2022
By framing Elvis’s story through Parker’s, Luhrmann’s film is cannily able to take a step back from the intimate details of the musician’s life. Instead it views him as a nuclear warhead of sensuality and cool, someone stood at the very crossroads of a fierce culture war. Read full review
78
TheWrapSteve PondMay 25, 2022
There’s enough energy and flash, though, to overcome most nit-picking, and Butler throws himself into a performance that’s wildly physical but never cartoonish or disrespectful. (The movie respects Presley, who deserves it, but not Parker, who doesn’t.) Read full review
75
The AtlanticDavid SimsJun 30, 2022
Luhrmann’s approach works for one reason: Elvis should be a mess. Presley’s adult life was chaotic, and it unfolded almost entirely in public, from his spectacular successes to his ignominious decline. Watching it play out on film ought to feel a little disorienting. Read full review
75
ReelViewsJames BerardinelliJun 27, 2022
Luhrmann’s movie achieves its goals of highlighting Elvis’ music while providing a capable, if imperfect, abstract of his life. For fans of the icon and his music, it hits enough sweet spots to be worthy of a theatrical viewing. Read full review
75
Original-CinJim SlotekJun 23, 2022
Its pace, at least in the early going, is breathless. Read full review
75
The Associated PressLindsey BahrJun 22, 2022
Luhrmann never does anything by half measures, but perhaps one of the most striking thinks about Elvis is how ultimately restrained it is in the end. Read full review
75
The Seattle TimesScott GreenstoneJun 22, 2022
As it is, Elvis is a gorgeous tragedy, a movie mixtape with a sonorous performance at its core, maybe Luhrmann’s best since “Romeo + Juliet” (1996) and perhaps his most postcard-perfect movie ever. But it has a rubberized script, a turgid length and a key issue that affects many musical biopics: It’s not really sure what it thinks or wants to say about Presley. Read full review
70
Arizona RepublicEd MasleyAug 16, 2022
It's all very stylized and flashy and modern, self-consciously hip in a way that's clearly been designed to speak to generations for whom Elvis Presley may not be the King of Rock 'n' Roll so much as the guy on the soundtrack to "Lilo & Stitch." Read full review
70
Rolling StoneK. Austin CollinsJun 27, 2022
Elvis is an entertaining movie about the man’s sex appeal and a pretty good movie about his life, even as it never dials things back enough for anyone to catch a breath. Luhrmann’s zigzagging, triumphantly kitschy style suits his subject. Read full review
70
New York Magazine (Vulture)Alison WillmoreJun 24, 2022
Elvis is bloated, hectic, ridiculous, and utterly shameless in all it glosses over to present its thesis on Presley as a talent too beautiful for this earth — the Christ of show business, sacrificed to our rapacious desires and the cruelties of capitalism at the age of 42. And you know what? I liked it, though my corneas did feel a little crunchy afterward. Read full review
70
ABC NewsPeter TraversJun 24, 2022
Baz Luhrmann’s bejeweled battering ram of a biopic is all over the place, which can be distracting, but the grit and grace of Austin Butler’s performance as The King is a thing of beauty. A star is born right here. Read full review
70
TimeStephanie ZacharekMay 26, 2022
Luhrmann and his co-writers Sam Bromell and Craig Pearce use the story of Elvis’ supremely crooked manager, Colonel Tom Parker (Tom Hanks, lurking beneath prosthetic jowls), to frame the larger, more glorious and more tragic story of Elvis. Read full review
70
SlashfilmRafael MotamayorMay 26, 2022
Elvis is the Baz Luhrmanniest film Baz Luhrmann has made yet, a compilation of his greatest filmmaking hits, all employed for a film as excessive and grandiose as Elvis himself. Though the framing device doesn't always work, Austin Butler's stunning performance, lavish production design, and comic book-like editing make for a movie not unlike one of Elvis' own — full of personality, kind of empty, but undeniably enjoyable. Read full review
70
IGNJim VejvodaMay 25, 2022
Although its rapid pacing doesn't always allow for the dramatic moments to resonate for as long as they could, Baz Luhrmann's Elvis biopic is a heartfelt and moving tribute to the late rocker. Read full review
70
The Hollywood ReporterDavid RooneyMay 25, 2022
If the writing too seldom measures up to the astonishing visual impact, the affinity the director feels for his showman subject is both contagious and exhausting. Luhrmann’s taste for poperatic spectacle is evident all the way, resulting in a movie that exults in moments of high melodrama as much as in theatrical artifice and vigorously entertaining performance. Read full review
68
CNETSteph PanecasioJun 24, 2022
Elvis is a compelling watch, with all the glitz and glamor you'd expect for a Presley biopic, but it skews more towards an ode to Luhrmann's cinematic style than an ode to the King. Read full review
63
Boston GlobeMark FeeneyJun 22, 2022
When Elvis is good, it’s quite good, in an awful sort of way. When it’s awful, it’s quite awful, in an entertaining sort of way. The movie can’t make up its mind if it’s chronicling a struggle for the soul of America (spoiler alert: bye-bye Beale Street, hello, Vegas) or it’s just a tabloid schlockfest. Read full review
63
USA TodayBrian TruittJun 21, 2022
With Butler’s stellar portrayal, it’s never dull, and more enjoyable than not. The musical numbers are often dazzling, boosted by Luhrmann’s inimitable style. And the plot (for better and for worse) covers a ton of Presley’s life. But even when it’s over, you’re still not sure what Hanks is doing. Read full review
63
LarsenOnFilmJosh LarsenJun 20, 2022
It’s a welcome return to Luhrmann maximalism, if you’re a fan of his style. And it’s anchored by a wild, possessed performance by Austin Butler, who gets Presley’s singing voice and—more importantly—gyrations exactly right. Read full review
60
Paste MagazineSaffron MaeveJun 27, 2022
It’s clear that Luhrmann has a genuine affection for his eponymous star—having ensured that the film’s contents were above-board with Elvis’ relatives—but even with all of his auteurist trimmings, Elvis shares a narrative flatness with this new wave of musical biopics. Read full review
60
The New YorkerAnthony LaneJun 27, 2022
Presleyologists will learn nothing here, and purists will find plenty against which to rail. Less knowing viewers, however, may well be sucked in by Luhrmann’s lively telling of the tale. This is not a movie for suspicious minds. Read full review
60
Screen RantMae AbdulbakiJun 24, 2022
Elvis seems perfectly content being a glitzy, bejeweled extravaganza, even when the film’s nearly three-hour runtime leaves its energy — which never fully recovers after the first half — waning by the end. Read full review
60
The Irish TimesDonald ClarkeJun 23, 2022
The viewer may struggle with the continuing inconsistency — the film is more comfortable with the supposedly compromised Elvis than the barely seen roots artist — but the audience is, at least, propelled back into the street in something like an elevated mood. Read full review
60
EmpireOlly RichardsJun 22, 2022
This is everything you might expect of a Baz Luhrmann biopic. It’s brash, loud, maximalist, and certainly never boring, but also keeps its subject at a distance, enthralled by his glamour not his soul. Read full review
60
VarietyOwen GleibermanMay 25, 2022
Luhrmann has made a woefully imperfect but at times arresting drama that builds to something moving and true. By the end, the film’s melody has been unchained. Read full review
60
Screen DailyTim GriersonMay 25, 2022
If Elvis suffers from a familiar Luhrmann weakness — style outpacing substance — the concert sequences effortlessly illuminate why Presley remains a revered musical figure, Luhrmann and Butler delivering one euphoric set piece after another. Read full review
60
Los Angeles TimesJustin ChangMay 25, 2022
To complain that “Elvis” is basically a compilation of musical-biopic conventions is a bit like complaining about a greatest-hits album; it also misses one of Luhrmann’s strengths as a filmmaker, which is his ability to suffuse clichés with sincerity, energy and feeling. Read full review
58
The Film StageLuke HicksMay 28, 2022
It’s tough to watch a movie like Elvis and totally dismiss it, no matter how much of a trainwreck it might seem. Name a department that isn’t the Tom Hanks department and there’s plenty of creative work worth praising. It’s just utterly incoherent with the material—that’s even tougher to get past. Read full review
50
ObserverRex ReedJun 24, 2022
Elvis Presley never dies, but an unequivocally gripping, emotionally effective and quintessential movie about him still begs to be made. Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis is not the one. Read full review
50
The New York TimesA.O. ScottJun 23, 2022
In the end, this isn’t a biopic or a horror movie or a cautionary parable: It’s a musical, and the music is great. Remixed, yes, and full of sounds that purists might find anachronistic. But there was never anything pure about Elvis Presley, except maybe his voice, and hearing it in all its aching, swaggering glory, you understand how it set off an earthquake. Read full review
50
ColliderRoss BonaimeJun 17, 2022
While Luhrmann can do his best to recreate the glitzy, nonstop nature of Presley’s life, in those final moments, it’s easy to see that Elvis lacked the weight that this real footage captures. It’s that little bit of substance that reminds how hollow the previous hours of style have been. Read full review
50
Slant MagazineJake ColeJun 16, 2022
The protracted rubbernecking at Elvis’s inexorable decline epitomizes a film that regularly backs away from its keenest observations about the icon to merely, and superficially, bask in his star power. Read full review
50
The PlaylistCharles BramescoMay 26, 2022
Luhrmann sees the chief utility of Elvis (or “Booby,” as his loved ones called him) as a pedestal for his everything-all-the-time maximalism, the King of Rock and Roll’s taste for excess in harmony with the Aussie auteur’s desire to shove shock-and-awe cinematic effect down his viewers’ throats until we choke to death on whip zooms. Read full review
42
The A.V. ClubTodd GilchristJun 22, 2022
Unfortunately, what audiences get from Luhrmann is simply excessive: his fast-cutting super-montage style overpowers the subject matter, and the result is an impressionistic, jumbled highlight reel of Presley’s many accomplishments, despite vivid recreations by actor Austin Butler as The King. Read full review
40
The New YorkerRichard BrodyJun 28, 2022
Elvis is a gaudily decorated Wikipedia article that owes little to its sense of style; it’s a film of substance, but of bare substance, a mere photographic replica of a script that both conveys and squanders the power of Presley’s authentic tragedy. Read full review
40
Wall Street JournalKyle SmithJun 24, 2022
The editing is like a kaleidoscope fed through a food processor, the camera has less ability to sit still than a 4-year-old stuffed with birthday cake, and both lead actors veer into camp. Read full review
40
CNNBrian LowryJun 23, 2022
"Elvis” has entered the theaters, but in a package that often recalls the excesses associated with his Vegas-residency years: Looking bloated, gaudy and at times bordering on self-parody. Those missteps, courtesy of director Baz Luhrmann and an ill-used Tom Hanks, squander Austin Butler’s brilliant moments in the title role, which deserve a much better movie. Read full review
40
The GuardianPeter BradshawMay 25, 2022
It’s not a movie so much as 159-minute trailer for a film called Elvis – a relentless, frantically flashy montage, epic and yet negligible at the same time, with no variation of pace. Read full review
38
Chicago TribuneMichael PhillipsJun 23, 2022
Instead of dramatizing this subject’s life, it dramatizes the extravagance of moviemaking. The script shoves the dicey stuff off to the side: race, infidelity, a complicated figure’s inner demons. Read full review
38
RogerEbert.comRobert DanielsJun 22, 2022
Elvis certainly works as a jukebox, and it does deliver exactly what you’d expect from a Luhrmann movie. But it never gets close to Presley; it never deals with the knotty man inside the jumpsuit; it never grapples with the complications in his legacy. It’s overstuffed, bloated, and succumbs to trite biopic decisions. Read full review
38
Vanity FairRichard LawsonMay 25, 2022
It is the film’s bitterest irony that a story about a man controlled by a domineering force seems itself unwilling to give its subject true autonomy, lest that distract from its director’s aesthetic interests. Read full review
37
Washington PostAnn HornadayJun 22, 2022
With Elvis, Luhrmann matches Presley’s drive and instinctive charisma and raises him for sheer nerve, simultaneously hewing to the hoariest conventions of Hollywood rise-and-fall biopics and seeking to gleefully subvert them at every turn. Read full review
25
IndieWireDavid EhrlichMay 25, 2022
It’s hard to find even ironic enjoyment in something this high on its own supply; something much less interested in how its namesake broke the rules than it is in how its director does, and something tirelessly incapable of finding any meaningful overlap between the two. Read full review
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