“Spring Breakers” is a crime drama film released in 2013 that follows four vapid college students who desire to escape the dorms and have the spring break of a lifetime. Partying, sex, drugs and other hijinks ensue before the friends, played by Selena Gomez, Vanessa Hudgens, Ashley Benson and Rachel Korine, meet Alien, an eccentric drug dealer played by James Franco. Things quickly get out of hand, leading to the aforementioned drama and crime.

Writer and director Harmony Korine made his stance on spring break culture anything but subtle. The film starts off with music-video-like shots of young party-goers juxtaposed with property damage and other unsavory imagery. This is a problem since the central theme of the film is received in about 60 seconds, yet the vast majority of the runtime still remains.

The film feels superficial. This superficiality is not helped by the sensationalist casting of Selena Gomez and Vanessa Hudgens. Korine having his bikini-clad and morally dubious characters played by actors hot on the trails of their Disney stardom comes off as blatant provocation. That is not to say the events of “Spring Breakers” will not retroactively make “High School Musical” even more complex than it already is. 

The editing stood out, jumping between scenes non-linearly. This made the film represent the blur of a party. Also, it was fun hearing all of those popular songs from 2013 again. Finally, the film was really funny. College girls talking about the wonders of spring break immediately after committing crimes is hilarious and James Franco as Alien is wonderfully over-the-top. Recommended to anyone who wants a throwback to something they were probably alive for.

Rating 5/10