“Spring Breakers” (2012) is an off-the-wall, boldly hallucinatory thrill ride about four young college girls lost in the delirium of spring break before ultimately falling under the spell of a dangerous criminal named "Alien" (James Franco).
Candy (Vanessa Hudgens), Brit (Ashley Benson) and Cotty (Rachel Korine) are hedonistic party girls desperate to attend college spring break in St. Petersburg, Florida, but lack the funds to make the trip possible. In a fit of drug-fueled desperation, they rob a restaurant and then recruit their virtuous friend Faith (Selena Gomez) to join them on a wild trek southward into a realm of debauchery.
Once on the scene amidst the titular springtime festivities, the girls run rampant throughout the famous Gulf Shore beach community before falling under the control of Alien, a volatile Svengali who steals their all-too-impressionable hearts. His devious intentions lead them down a dark path of of moral decrepitude amidst decadent troves of money, drugs and guns.
A gonzo masterpiece of hyperkinetic violence and absurdity interlaced with hints of morality and human pathos, writer director Harmony Korine (“Kids”, “Gummo”) delivers “Spring Breakers” to the screen as a neon-feverish dream of hedonism, seduction, and uncompromising peril. It’s a darkly twisted guilty pleasure, and all-in-all, an undeniably enjoyable viewing experience.
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