Filmmaker Harmony Korine has often been revered for his erratic and transgressive movies that explore taboo subject matter in a highly experimental fashion. One of his more mainstream features has to be the 2012 comedy crime film Spring Breakers, starring the likes of James Franco, Selena Gomez, Vanessa Hedges, Ashley Benson and Rachel Korine. Known as one of the first releases from then brand new indie company A24, the film went on to gross gangbusters compared to its small budget and garnered just enough praise to be considered a cult classic. Looking at the film nowadays, although it's certainly not for everyone, there is a lot to admire in its exploration of self destruction in the modern day.
The film follows four college-aged girls who visit St. Petersburg, Florida on their spring break, only to get arrested for abusing narcotics. After getting saved by an eccentric drug dealer named Alien, the girls end up descending into a bizarre world of drugs, crime and violence. As this is a social commentary on millennial superficiality and pop culture exploitation, Spring Breakers is both a tribute and satirization of the self-destructive themes it is tackling. Perhaps it does indulge in the pop culture obscenities a little too much in the first act, which isn't helped that the film's pacing can get tirelessly repetitive after a while. Now the established contrast between the leads Brit, Candy and Cotty being party animals and Faith being a part of a religious youth group does work in favor of the character's financial difficulty, but them actually getting to Florida takes a bit longer than it really should have. Even once they get to Florida, their indulgence in partying and drug abuse gets too overwhelming to the point of near nausea, and the length of time it takes to showcase this will really polarize anyone's viewing experience. So needless to say, the first act is a bit too much to handle, even if that's what Korine was going for to show us what kind of media that millennials tend to get into.
However, once Alien comes into the picture, the film immediately picks up and becomes far more interesting and intense than meets the eye. As Alien is a "cool boy" white gangster complete with all kinds of crazy gear and narcotics, he is proven to be far out of this world, which leads the girls to engage in his antics and also feel uncomfortable at the same time. In addition, James Franco pulls off such an intimidatingly crazy performance as Alien that you almost wonder if he practically became the character during the making of the movie. There aren't a whole lot of other characters to take note of, but rapper Gucci Mane makes for a strong opposer as Alien's childhood friend turned drug rival Archie, which proves to be another turn on by the aforementioned party girls. What's interesting to note is that the film has often been debated whether it is pro misogynist or feminist, but considering that the girls end up taking over more in Alien's crib than one might expect, there's much to argue that the leads are really just enjoying their spring break while they can without completely succumbing to the drug hustling world. At the end of the day, these girls are taking charge of their own lives, even down to triumphing over a scary drug kingpin in the most unimaginable way.
As far as other qualities are concerned, the cinematography is as intense as the themes presented throughout the film, down to practically becoming a character in its own regard. In displaying just how unhinged college students might end up getting through unadulterated fun, the camera showcases as much glamour as it wants in displaying all of the uncomfortable vices that one would expect in these types of scenarios. The editing also helps to make many scenes feel like extensive trips so that the audience knows what they're getting into is far more wild of a ride than they might assume. It's saying how much this is an arthouse film disguised as a comedy crime thriller when James Franco's poetry juxtaposing with certain events happening on screen adds into the intentionally off putting tone shown across the runtime. Lastly, the soundtrack slaps in more ways than one, which can be attributed to the talents of composers Cliff Martinez and EDM musician Skrillex lending their talents to the wildness of the whole film. The soundtrack not only feels appropriate to the time when this film came out, but it proves just how intense a lot of young adults and late teens will eat this kind of work up without knowing the repercussions of their extensive partying.
So while Spring Breakers is not at all what one might expect from mere assumptions, its erratic social commentary on late millennial culture and gripping performances from the lead cast make it as intense as it is fascinating. Unless you're not the intended audience that this film is clearly made for, I would recommend checking this film out at least once just to see how unapologetic it is in both tone and content. As of now, Harmony Korine is developing a sequel to this extravagant mindgame, so by all means give it a go if you feel ready to do so. You might have to go back to school or work after it's all done, but there's a good chance that you will always remember this trip of a movie.
The film follows four college-aged girls who visit St. Petersburg, Florida on their spring break, only to get arrested for abusing narcotics. After getting saved by an eccentric drug dealer named Alien, the girls end up descending into a bizarre world of drugs, crime and violence. As this is a social commentary on millennial superficiality and pop culture exploitation, Spring Breakers is both a tribute and satirization of the self-destructive themes it is tackling. Perhaps it does indulge in the pop culture obscenities a little too much in the first act, which isn't helped that the film's pacing can get tirelessly repetitive after a while. Now the established contrast between the leads Brit, Candy and Cotty being party animals and Faith being a part of a religious youth group does work in favor of the character's financial difficulty, but them actually getting to Florida takes a bit longer than it really should have. Even once they get to Florida, their indulgence in partying and drug abuse gets too overwhelming to the point of near nausea, and the length of time it takes to showcase this will really polarize anyone's viewing experience. So needless to say, the first act is a bit too much to handle, even if that's what Korine was going for to show us what kind of media that millennials tend to get into.
However, once Alien comes into the picture, the film immediately picks up and becomes far more interesting and intense than meets the eye. As Alien is a "cool boy" white gangster complete with all kinds of crazy gear and narcotics, he is proven to be far out of this world, which leads the girls to engage in his antics and also feel uncomfortable at the same time. In addition, James Franco pulls off such an intimidatingly crazy performance as Alien that you almost wonder if he practically became the character during the making of the movie. There aren't a whole lot of other characters to take note of, but rapper Gucci Mane makes for a strong opposer as Alien's childhood friend turned drug rival Archie, which proves to be another turn on by the aforementioned party girls. What's interesting to note is that the film has often been debated whether it is pro misogynist or feminist, but considering that the girls end up taking over more in Alien's crib than one might expect, there's much to argue that the leads are really just enjoying their spring break while they can without completely succumbing to the drug hustling world. At the end of the day, these girls are taking charge of their own lives, even down to triumphing over a scary drug kingpin in the most unimaginable way.
As far as other qualities are concerned, the cinematography is as intense as the themes presented throughout the film, down to practically becoming a character in its own regard. In displaying just how unhinged college students might end up getting through unadulterated fun, the camera showcases as much glamour as it wants in displaying all of the uncomfortable vices that one would expect in these types of scenarios. The editing also helps to make many scenes feel like extensive trips so that the audience knows what they're getting into is far more wild of a ride than they might assume. It's saying how much this is an arthouse film disguised as a comedy crime thriller when James Franco's poetry juxtaposing with certain events happening on screen adds into the intentionally off putting tone shown across the runtime. Lastly, the soundtrack slaps in more ways than one, which can be attributed to the talents of composers Cliff Martinez and EDM musician Skrillex lending their talents to the wildness of the whole film. The soundtrack not only feels appropriate to the time when this film came out, but it proves just how intense a lot of young adults and late teens will eat this kind of work up without knowing the repercussions of their extensive partying.
So while Spring Breakers is not at all what one might expect from mere assumptions, its erratic social commentary on late millennial culture and gripping performances from the lead cast make it as intense as it is fascinating. Unless you're not the intended audience that this film is clearly made for, I would recommend checking this film out at least once just to see how unapologetic it is in both tone and content. As of now, Harmony Korine is developing a sequel to this extravagant mindgame, so by all means give it a go if you feel ready to do so. You might have to go back to school or work after it's all done, but there's a good chance that you will always remember this trip of a movie.