Spring Breakers

Spring Breakers is a 2012 American comedy crime film written and directed by Harmony Korine and starring James Franco, Selena Gomez, Vanessa Hudgens, Ashley Benson, Rachel Korine, and Gucci Mane. Gomez, Hudgens, Benson and Korine portray four college-aged girls who go on spring break in St. Petersburg, Florida and meet an eccentric local drug dealer (Franco) who helps them in a time of desperation, and their eventual descent into a world of drugs, crime, and violence.

Korine had devised the concept over several years prior to production, with fleeting ideas about the plot and what should transpire. His initial desire was to create a "sensory film" that was more about feeling than action and placed little importance on narrative or plot, the idea for which came later. Once Korine developed the story's backbone, which takes place around the American spring break period, he traveled to Florida to write the screenplay. Production began in 2012, on an estimated budget of $5 million. It is one of Korine's first theatrical works to receive a wide release.

Spring Breakers was released on March 22, 2013 in the United States by A24 and grossed $31 million worldwide, making it a resounding success considering the small budget. It received generally positive reviews from critics with praise for Franco's performance and Debie's cinematography especially, with some also calling it a potential cult classic. The film was selected to compete for the Golden Lion at the 69th Venice International Film Festival. Critics and scholars have read deeper meaning in the plot, commenting on its reflection of modern-day superficiality and the younger generation's self-destructive obsession with highly stylized, disposable pop culture media and sensory ephemera. It ranks in BBC's 100 Greatest Films of the 21st Century. A sequel, Spring Breakers: The Second Coming, is in development. Jonas Åkerlund and Irvine Welsh initially intended to direct and write, respectively, until development had restarted, to which Korine would be open to directing and writing the sequel.