Former Disney Channel favourites Selena Gomez and Vanessa Hudgens star alongside James Franco in the bizarre new Spring Breakers which premiered at the Venice film festival.

A concoction of deliberately trashy visuals and dream-like sequences, the film, directed by Harmony Korine, is bound to raise more than a few eyebrows for the pornographically-shot nudity and lesbian frolicking of its young actresses.

The plot revolves around four hedonistic girls who go to Florida for their spring break university holiday – a binge of drink, drugs and flesh.

Their fortunes take a turn for the worse when they are arrested and are bailed out by Franco’s creepy, gold-toothed gangster character Alien.

At this point Gomez as Faith – a name that carries weight in what at times appears a parable of an American Dream gone wrong – leaves and the three remaining members of the gang embark on a law-breaking spree with Alien.

The film builds up to a gory and garish conclusion – an inevitability that viewers are reminded of by the sound of a gun being cocked repeatedly throughout the flick as well as by bloody flash-forward scenes.

The film is one of 18 competing for the Golden Lion prize to be announced on Saturday.

It is due to go on general release next year.