r/A24 • u/Effective_Bee_6661 • 1d ago
Discussion What does everybody think of “Spring Breakers” (2012)?
A24’s FIRST film, way before the Backrooms, Marcel, Ex Machina, and EEAAO came to be. Does this film hold up?
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u/thurmbrandon 1d ago
I loveeed it when I first saw it. Super stylized movie that I think really captures the feeling it's trying to give off .Haven't seen it since need to go back.
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u/MinorThreat4182 1d ago
Same. I need to rewatch it. I liked it the first time.
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u/thetobbie 20h ago
I loved it the first time too, many years ago. Watched it again earlier this year & wasn’t so impressed lool! It still looks gorgeous & I think there’s still something in it for the much younger audience. I think at my age now (39), it’s a little too silly to take seriously. I hope you let me know what you think when you see it.
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u/Wilfredbremely 17h ago
Harmony Korine movies exist to be seen once, appreciated for their art, and never seen again. The nature of his films are to be so jarring that you never forget scenes from them.
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u/MinorThreat4182 16h ago
I agree on all of them but this one. I don’t want to ever see Kids or Gummo again.
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u/heinous_legacy 1d ago
ahead of its time
LOOK AT MAAH SHEIT.
also the Britney Spears montage had a chokehold on me for a lonnnggg time
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u/bearrington 1d ago
I moved to LA in 2012 at 24 years old. this film and Lana Del Ray’s Born to Die album formed my entire personality for a solid year
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u/Suitable-Parsnip-520 1d ago
I subscribe to the not-unpopular theory that this movie is about pop stardom, specifically Britney Spears -- and how any reasonable superstar would snap with the way society constantly objectifies and oversexualizes them.
A pop star get revenge on a world that's corrupted them. In other words, I bet this movie pairs so well with LDR's "Born to Die." Jaded, dreamy, and super fun.
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u/Impressive-Ad8501 4h ago
There’s a really good YouTube video analysis of the film that theorizes it is an allegory for the life and career of Britney Spears.
They sing baby one more time, become bad girls, and then get in trouble and crash out.
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u/Fancy-Boysenberry139 1d ago
I never get tired of James Franco in cornrows saying “sprang break”
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u/Informal_Ad8683 1d ago
First A24 movie I saw in theaters! Already loved Harmony from “Gummo” and “KIDS” though. I think it’s excellent and is a hallmark of the quality narrative I expect from A24.
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u/Cognonymous 8h ago
I did a blind viewing without knowing anything about it and was really surprised to find it was the same guy who had directed Gummo. Gave me a lot of respect for Harmony, because that's some real range.
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u/lostinthetrenches 1d ago
My favorite Harmony Korine movie. The cinematography by Benoit Debie is stunning.
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u/SkunkWarehouse 1d ago
Don’t forget Doug Crise’s editing! It is a crime he did not win an Oscar for it
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u/Old-Border6185 1d ago
10/10 satire. Probably goes over the head of a lot of American viewers but honestly this is what %90 of American media unironically looked like in the late 2000’s and early 2010’s. It perfectly satirised detachment from violence, hyper-materialism and pop culture worship.
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u/SkunkWarehouse 1d ago
A masterpiece. People see the visuals and themes they usually associate with low brow entertainment and assume the movie is trash. But if you go into it expecting a mind bending art film, it is one of the most unique movies ever made. I’m a professional editor. Whenever I teach or lecture about editing, I always work this movie in because it intentionally breaks every rule with stunning results.
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u/Plopwitdaflops 1d ago
Very curious, what rules is it breaking? Would love to hear the cliff notes version of your lecture
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u/SkunkWarehouse 1d ago
The whole movie is edited to disorient the viewer. A few quick technique notes because I can’t sleep so why not
-There are almost no match cuts in the entire movie. This leaves the viewer very disoriented because you learn the orientation of the space as the scene progresses and at every cut have to figure out how where you are. This isn’t exactly new, but I feel confident saying this has never been done consistently across an entire movie.
-They break the 180 degree line constantly. Once again, not new but it is done at a scale no one else does. I particular love how they do it in scenes with Alien and Archie. The breaking of orientation of the space gives the impression that the interaction you are witnessing went on for much longer than depicted on screen. But this is once again extremely disorienting because there’s no clear indicator of how much time has passed.
-They use a really creative non linear structure. Usually with non linear you think of jumping around between scenes. But the non linear editing in this sort of just blends the scenes together. No scene ever clearly starts or ends. You get flashes of the next scene starting while the current scene is ending. I only noticed this because I was watching a screener DVD of it late and night and kept saying I would go to sleep after the next scene, but the damn things never clearly end.
Doug Crise edited the movie. He has an Oscar nomination and has edited or assistant edited a lot of great movies. Once again, the movie has the faceplate of trash, but it was edited by one of the top living editors who is a true master of the art.
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u/VivaLaCon88 1d ago
I like how it feels like a scenic, dreamy nightmare. Idk how else to describe it.
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u/Desperate-Ad1735 1d ago
this was 2012?
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u/0xmasterroshi 1d ago
the repetition is the thing that works for me. it feels like being trapped inside a music video that’s slowly going rotten. james franco is ridiculous and somehow exactly right for it.
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u/ViolentHalloumi 1d ago
My favorite fun fact about this movie is that, per Seth Rogen, Nicolas Cage is convinced James Franco stole the idea to play the character as a “white Bahamian” from him
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u/Connect-Amoeba3618 1d ago
Hated it. I thought my girlfriend at the time might have been enjoying it so didn’t want to tell her I wanted to walk out and ruin it for her.
When it finally ended she told me she also hated it and didn’t want to tell me in case I was enjoying it.
Reader, I married her.
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u/rococobaroque 17h ago
Reminds me of Liz and Floyd in 30 Rock: "I thought it was really moving... my bowels!"
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u/manspider14 22h ago
Lmao same. We saw this freshman year of college and we both turned to each other after and just laughed. Sure artistically it was fine but the story was just...it was a story by definition I suppose
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u/xSwampxPopex 1d ago
Sucks in a way that’s hard to describe so that’s something
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u/ALasagnaForOne 1d ago edited 15h ago
Everyone is glazing this movie in here so I’ll probably get downvoted to hell but I fucking hated this movie. It felt like it was masquerading as something incredibly deep when it was deeply vapid and a waste of an opportunity to make any sort of comment on party/spring break/youth culture. It really had nothing interesting to say and nothing new to show us except that you can shoot the same old male-gazey, misogynistic Girls Gone Wild footage using better cameras. Just devoid of depth. I also hated how much they repeated the same dialogue over and over, it felt like an incredibly lazy way to get away with writing half a script and say nothing of value.
“No don’t you see? It is deep because they said it twice!”
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u/peppersmiththequeer 1d ago
Went and saw this in theaters with friends in high school expecting a very different kind of movie and we came out of it completely baffled.
Watched five or so years later and was totally on its gonzo wavelength. Feels like a love it or hate it kind of movie and I don’t blame anyone for thinking either way.
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u/Rawkstarz22 1d ago
Top 3 A24 for me
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u/Sentimentalgoblin 1d ago
And the very first A24!
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u/Rawkstarz22 23h ago
Yep George Washington of A24 films, and set the tone for all those films after
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u/cool_weed_dad 21h ago
Haven’t seen it since it came out but I absolutely loved it at the time. Harmony Korine rarely misses.
Franco is great in it but I always thought they should have just gotten Riff Raff to play the character since it’s very obviously based on him.
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u/White_Boiii 1d ago
I watched it for the first time last year and absolutely loved it. I had no idea what to expect, the only thing I knew going in was the opening scene and that did not give me high hopes 🤣. The vibe of the movie was definitely my favorite part.
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u/Lonely-Illustrator64 1d ago
Thought it was really dumb tbh. It actually made me feel sick to the stomach.
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u/billbord 23h ago
I honestly think this film does more to predict the next 10 years in American culture than any other. The aesthetic, the end of shame, all of it.
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u/sfaticat 19h ago edited 19h ago
I’ll never forget my Italian film professor. He was obsessed with the idea that Italian cinema history had movies that genuinely defined an entire generation of young people. Like works by Fellini and Antonioni and insisted the US didn't actually have a true equivalent.
We kept telling him he was wrong and threw out The Breakfast Club, Clueless, and Superbad. He just waved us off with, "Yeah, but those don't capture a generation in the same way."
Then one Monday morning, he walked into class looking like he’d had an epiphany. "Guys... I finally found the movie that defines you all."
We all sat up, waiting to hear what highbrow American masterpiece he’d unearthed. "Which one?"
He looked at us dead serious and said, "Spring Breakers... it’s about all of you."
Half the class burst out laughing and the rest of us were just sitting there like, "Absolutely not, man, you're just wildly overthinking this whole thing."
I always try to believe Spring Breakers is just some misunderstood masterpiece that I just didn’t get. I believe it was A24’s first film too. I even saw it the day he mentioned it and just hated it and found it stupid. I think bro was in the mood for a dumb comedy and it hit
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u/littlemonster2828 1d ago
Ive only seen it once, when it first came out. I refuse to rewatch it with more mature eyes. To me, it will always be a classic. If I watch it now, I'll probably hate it. But im not willing to take that risk.
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u/vemmahouxbois 1d ago
do it
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u/littlemonster2828 1d ago
In a good or bad way?
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u/basedbooger 1d ago
I rewatched it recently & it still absolutely slaps. Idk how much your tastes have changed, but I definitely still think it’s worthwhile!
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u/Independent-Tree-848 1d ago
It gave me false hopes about college life when I watched it as a high school student lol
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u/Godzirrraaa 1d ago
Its just dumb fun that’s shot really well.
Thank you for also reminding why I still say, “Why ya’ll actin’ ‘spicious?”
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u/Mr_smiclops 1d ago
Genuinely horrible movie with zero substance i don’t care what anybody says, literally 1/3rd of the movie is just b-roll footage of parties with the girls saying stupid shit like ‘this is spring break’ ‘spring break is forever’ in the background. like it’s genuinely laughably bad and the ending is horrible
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u/kinzer13x 1d ago
Yeah I don't get all this love for it. I've seen thousands of films at this point, and this one is awful. Pretentious and boring. To sit through this thing is ROUGH.
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u/guardian87 1d ago
Thank you! I had too scroll so far down to find a non „masterpiece“ opinion.
I really didn’t like anything about the movie.
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u/Hyptonight 1d ago
It makes its point in 20 min. Korine always talks about how he doesn’t judge his characters, he just observes them. But I can barely think of a filmmaker who judges his characters more.
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u/MisterInsect 1d ago
I found the writing one-dimensional. It looks pretty but isn't as deep as Harmony Korine thinks it is.
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u/darbadob 1d ago
Can't stand this movie, it drags and scenes become so repetitive. Visually it's unique and interesting to look at but I couldn't wait for Spring Breakers to end. Genuinely would never want to sit through this movie ever again haha
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u/mylevelwaschanged 1d ago
Misunderstood but still a mixed bag. First half is elite, second half is too all over the place.
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u/mattiescorsese 1d ago
Saw it in theaters cause I was a huge Riff Raff fan and he kept posting about how James Francos role was originally made for him.
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u/soggymoths 1d ago
me and my best friend were obsessed when it first came out so I'll always be a fan
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u/russellamcleod 1d ago
Had an ex that would always put this on when we were coming down from MDMA and Coke.
I can still feel my skull vibrating at 9:30 in the morning when he’d press the “Play Again” button for the second time. It meant I needed to start thinking about going to work.
How I survived those years is wild to me.
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u/winceypoo 1d ago
YO I DID NOT KNOW THIS WAS AN A24 MOVIE.... BUT I GUESS I SHOULD'VE SINCE THIS WAS PEAK CINEMA LOL
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u/Thantichrist 1d ago
Conan the Barbarian, Gummo, Run Ronnie Run and this film everyone of my friends have to watch.
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u/likemyke91 23h ago
I was 22. And seen Selena Gomez and Franco party movie and said this is bullshit I am not going to watch it. Then I learned about korine and A24 and have it a watch about 10 years later. Absolutely loved it!
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u/Barbafella 22h ago
Waiting for the 4K. I saw it on release, instantly loved it and the A24 aesthetic.
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u/cowboybaked We’re in the Backrooms now🫠 22h ago
Loved Gucci Mane as the big bad just an absolute menace. Wish he’d do more movies he has great screen presence everything he says is slightly foreboding really gives the viewer a sense of urgency and then that ending no one sees coming!
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u/breakfastatstephs 20h ago
crazy this came up because i just said two days ago how i feel like im one of the only people that absolutely loved the hell out of this movie
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u/roadtrip-ne 19h ago
Korine’s most accessible by far. The biggest mistake they made was casting Franco as a Riff Raff clone, when Riff Raff existed in real life.
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u/DeadPonyta 19h ago
Went in thinking it would be trashy fun entertainment and came out astounded at witnessing genius.
It made me feel grubby for looking (which I’m pretty sure was deliberate) and then it just became a neon fever dream critique of materialism and media consumption. I realised that I had witnessed greatness but sadly no one else seemed to agree.
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u/dariusmaximus 19h ago
Extremely ahead of its time thematically, there’s still no other movie that captures the influencer/tiktok zeitgeist like this
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u/axwell21 17h ago
Loved it then and still do now.
Harmony has his thumb on the dark twisted heart of America whether people like him or not
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u/scarletcyre 17h ago
I wasnt really into movies until I saw this. It made me look more into a24 and that just opened me up to so much. Special place in my heart
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u/TheRenegadeProject 16h ago
Spring Breakers is stylistically decent, if a bit edgy - kinda felt like the sleazy summary of the end of the frat Jersey Shore era. And then it turns into Miami Vice / GTA. The story is utter nonsense, but it does capture that vibe of an endless chaotic summer, chasing your youth and losing responsibility at all costs. I really do hope GTA 6 taps into some of the madness of Spring Breakers.
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u/JessicaOkayyy 14h ago
It’s one of my favorite movies. I can’t quite explain why, like others have said it captured a feeling really well. I’m also a huge fan of American Honey and The Florida Project. All three give me the same feeling of a time and place I miss but have never existed in.
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u/Fabulous-Deal-5944 1d ago
It's almost like a modern, female version of Juice (1992) and I like it for that reason. The Skrillex songs ripped too
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u/Space_Hardware 1d ago
First film? A Glimpse Inside The Mind of Charles Swan III came out a month before Spring Breakers.
You can argue that it was A24’s first good film, sure…
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u/Cultural-Alarm-6422 1d ago
I remember everyone thinking Selena Gomez would be salacious in the movie and break out of her Disney channel image and instead ended up being the most tame of the group lol
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u/tobyPuppy 1d ago
Cult classic . Ages like fine wine . I like the psychedelic ride aspect of the film.
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u/vxnusbxbe 1d ago
i love it! i think it’s a great depiction of yt suburban kids glorifying gang culture
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u/Cryptophiliac_meh 1d ago
It was my introduction to A24 and it captivated me lol. I rewatch every few years and it gets an honorary place in my top 5 because it's a beautiful movie. Also probably nostalgia reasons lol
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u/AntSUnrise 1d ago
Thought it was dog shit tbh. But yeah nice colors and pretty women. Not much else to it. Harmony is overrated but loved his shit as a teen.
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u/sullivillain 1d ago
This film will forever and always been cringy. I get secondhand embarrassment.
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u/kugisaki- 1d ago
I have a list on letterboxd called something like “movies that I thought went so hard when I was 16” and Spring Breakers is on there, BUT, it is not an inherently derogatory list and I find myself putting it on maybe every other year soooooo
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u/AlwaysFernweh 21h ago
I know it’s satire but it’s still awful. For me at least. I know people enjoy it and I’m glad they do, it wasn’t for me
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u/Deliriaslasher 20h ago
Underwhelming movie. I kept waiting for something of interest to happen then by the end I was like "What!? that's it???"
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u/srushti335 18h ago
I don't know anything about it but somebody on twitter said it's a sexploitation film paraded as art, which was surprising since all i see are praises for A24 and those posts usually include this film's poster.
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u/Chet2017 17h ago
Hated it. James Franco = deal breaker
(Did not know he was in it when I watched it)
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u/Logical_Magician_01 Waves is underrated! 12h ago
Still think it would have been a brilliant move to cast Riff Raff
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u/siberiansneaks 11h ago
I thought it was super entertaining at the time, haven’t seen it in 10+ years though.
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u/wubdargg 11h ago
Everytime needle drop goes crazy. Wasn’t a fan of this film before but definitely grew on me!
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u/Living_Article_3741 11h ago
Good looking white trash film playing to our lowest common denominator. Highly watchable but never great.
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u/Shaiziin 10h ago
I've always enjoyed this movie and didn't get the hate. Also had no clue this was A24! What a pleasant surprise
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u/Old-Goose1442 1d ago
Spring Break Forever