Recently there have been an awful lot of “coming of age” pieces in the popular media, from television and books to the movies. It’s understandable; it’s a constant, universal problem regardless of which culture you come from, even in the most difficult of circumstances. But when affluent countries become unstable (like the United States) and the future becomes uncertain it permeates the culture and people, in obvious or subtle ways. The “spring break” phenomenon is said to have originated with being timed around the holiday of Easter, but after World War II, it became synonymous with vacations to Florida and massive partying. And always about the youth, battling impermanence and holding off the worries of the future with a lot of escapism. Sex, drugs, music. Crime.

Spring Breakers from indie director Harmony Korine is about four college girls at a small nondescript Northeastern town of darkness, colors and boredom who want to go on a spring break adventure but can’t afford it. Candy (Vanessa Hudgens) is the blatant one that starts everything, Brit (Ashley Benson) is her twin in depravity, Cotty (Rachel Korine, the director’s much younger wife) is the hanger-on, and Faith (Selena Gomez) is the theoretically religious and “goody two-shoes” of the group. So the three “bad” girls steal a car and hold up a diner to get the money for their trip. Faith was not involved in the crime, but she’s more than happy to use the stolen money. So it’s time for a series of escalating partying in Florida with like-minded peers, gyrating to music, teasing and playing, and running out of money. And then they get arrested.

The movie, already using repetitive hyper-exploitative imagery and hypnotic music to make it all seem like a madhouse of excess, then takes a truly bizarre turn. Rapper and local criminal Alien (James Franco), with the most cliched and over-the-top costuming imaginable, bails them out and hangs out with them, introducing them to his gangster lifestyle. This may be too much for the girls, or at least one or two of them. Because Alien is just about to get into a turf war with former best friend and mentor Archie (Gucci Mane). I won’t spoil the craziness that ensues. But this movie has a way of getting under your skin, with its excellent soundtrack from Cliff Martinez (who was similarly great with the soundtrack for Drive) and Skrillex (famous dub-step composer), and the edits that confuse and beguile by mixing up different points in time. As for the acting, it’s great — the girls all play their parts to perfection, and James Franco is astonishingly good as the arrogant gangster with serious damage. Were Vanessa Hudgens and Selena Gomez cast because of their Disney Channel past? Or was it because those actresses wanted something more “adult”? Yes.

The film really toes the line between its satire and discomfited look at the spring break tradition and its simultaneous love of it. Those exploitative images of nudity and violence then become confusing, because you can’t figure out what the movie is trying to say. I think part of the problem is that it’s actually trying to comment on the odd paradox of thinking something is important (like spring break as a coming of age rite of passage) but at the same time decrying how it can all go bad. The girls are all changed by their adventure in different ways, reflecting the differences in their characters. But the message seems to be: this generation, like many others, doesn’t connect with their past despite that they’re hardly the first to feel this way. But new technologies and cultural shifts have made some things different and, possibly, more harmful. You could see this movie and think it’s all about an over the top exploitation of beautiful young people, or that it’s a harsh indictment of that sort of exploitation. Maybe both are true.

Or maybe neither.

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