Baz Luhrmann has once again redefined how audiences see Elvis Presley. At this year’s Toronto International Film Festival, the world premiere of *EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert* didn’t feel like just another screening—it felt like a celebration. Fans clapped, danced, and even laughed in unison as the curtain was pulled back on a side of the King that had never truly been revealed.
The film is built on a staggering discovery: fifty-nine hours of unseen rehearsal and concert footage from Elvis’s electrifying Las Vegas years. For decades, this material had been locked away, fragments of history known only to insiders. Now, restored and reimagined through Luhrmann’s cinematic lens, it bursts onto the screen with the vitality of a living, breathing performance.
Remarkably, fifteen of those hours were silent—no audio at all. And yet, the absence of sound didn’t diminish Presley’s presence. Instead, it amplified it. Every hip thrust, every sly grin, every playful exchange with his band radiated through the silence. In one striking sequence, Elvis breaks into an impromptu tap dance, his joy so infectious that even without the music, the rhythm seemed to vibrate through the audience.
Luhrmann describes the project as a “tone poem,” and that description rings true. Rather than a conventional concert film, *EPiC* unfolds like a meditation on charisma, creativity, and performance. It lingers in the spaces between the songs, capturing the essence of Elvis as both man and myth.
For lifelong fans, it’s a revelation. For newcomers, it’s an initiation into why Elvis Presley remains an unmatched cultural force. At TIFF, the message was clear: more than forty-five years after his passing, Elvis still has the power to move a room to its feet. *EPiC* is nothing short of unfiltered magic.
