Spring Breakers

Spring Breakers
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Harmony Korine
Produced by	Chris Hanley Jordan Gertner David Zander Charles-Marie Anthonioz
Written by	Harmony Korine
Starring	James Franco Selena Gomez Vanessa Hudgens Ashley Benson Rachel Korine
Music by	Skrillex Cliff Martinez
Cinematography	Benoît Debie
Edited by	Douglas Crise
Production company	Muse Productions Annapurna Pictures Division Films Radar Productions
Distributed by	A24
Release date	September 4, 2012 (2012-09-04) (Venice) March 22, 2013 (2013-03-22) (United States)
Running time	94 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$5 million
Box office	$31.7 million

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	68/100
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic
Consequence of Sound	C-
Now	NNNN
Pitchfork Media	7.6/10
RedEye
Rolling Stone
Tampa Bay Times	A

Spring Breakers is a 2012 American film written and directed by Harmony Korine. It stars James Franco, Vanessa Hudgens, Selena Gomez, Ashley Benson and Rachel Korine and follows four college-aged girls on their spring break in Florida where they meet an eccentric local drug dealer named Alien 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 for Spring Breakers 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 backbone of the story, which takes place around the American spring break period, he travelled to Florida to write the screenplay. Production began in 2012, on an estimated budget of $5 million–a relatively small amount in today's film industry, albeit Korine's second most expensive film to date. The film is also 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 film critics, with some 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 film's plot, commenting on its reflection of modern-day superficiality and the younger generation's obsession with highly stylised pop culture media.

College students Brit (Ashley Benson), Candy (Vanessa Hudgens) and Cotty (Rachel Korine) spend their time partying while their friend Faith (Selena Gomez) attends a religious youth group. As their classmates head to spring break, they are stuck behind due to a lack of money. Desperate to make the trip, Brit and Candy, after getting high on cocaine, don ski masks and use hammers and realistic-looking squirt guns to rob a local restaurant. Cotty drives and later burns a getaway car stolen from one of their professors.