Spring Breakers

At 40 years old, film-maker and former enfant terrible Harmony Korine (writer of Kids, writer/director of Gummo) is still obsessed with youthful transgression. Here, American college kids look forward to spring break - notorious for sex, drugs and wild parties - but students Selena Gomez, Vanessa Hudgens, Ashley Benson and Rachel Korine are broke. A quick hold-up later and they're off to Florida where sleazy rapper James Franco sucks them deeper into a life of crime. Korine expertly captures a mood of giddy hedonism - and the grinding comedown that follows - using trippy visuals, grimy hyper-realism and neon-soaked imagery worthy of Michael Mann. Franco gives an incredible performance, while Gomez and Hudgens impress with a brave (and successful) move to shed their squeaky clean image. But beneath the bikinis and beer bongs, Korine's film is a merciless examination of race and class privilege in America, showing how those who feel excluded from its rampant consumer culture will go to any lengths to be part of it. This will appeal to the young crowd it depicts, but also as a twisted morality tale for those who are older and, hopefully, wiser.