10 Best Movies Written & Directed By Harmony Korine, Ranked By IMDb

Harmony Korine is one of the most unique and independent American filmmaking talents of the past quarter-century. After writing the raw, eye-opening coming-of-age street tale Kids, in 1995, Korine made his directorial debut two years later with Gummo, a bizarre independent mockumentary that, much like his entire career, defies description.

During the past two and a half decades, Korine has continued to make small, strange, commercially unviable films that focus on characters forgotten or looked down upon by society. Most recently, Korine inspired the SXSW documentary Kid Candidate, which chronicles avant-garde musician Hayden Pedigo’s unexpected run for city council in Amarillo, Texas.

9 Trash Humpers (2009) 5.1

In his fourth feature film, Trash Humpers, Korine explores the sordid lives of a subset of geriatric Nashville residents who spend their time peeping into neighbors’ windows without an ounce of guilt or remorse.

The comedic-horror quasi-documentary was shot and edited entirely on VHS, focusing on elderly peeping toms who’ve been cast aside by the mainstream in Tennessee.

8 Spring Breakers (2012) 5.3

In his most commercially successful film to date, Korine explores the underbelly of the American spring break subculture as seen through the eyes of four disillusioned college women.

Hell-bent on attending spring break in Florida, Brit (Ashley Benson), Candy (Vanessa Hudgens), Cotty (Rachel Korine), and Faith (Selena Gomez) link up with a lecherous drug dealer named Alien (James Franco) to rob a diner to pay for their vacation. Through a drug and alcohol-fueled haze, the women learn hard, dream-shattering lessons.

7 The Beach Bum (2019) 5.5

Korine followed Spring Breakers with The Beach Bum, a lazy and leisurely tale of a free-spirited poet who calls himself Moondog (Matthew McConaughey) and lives a carefree lifestyle on Miami Beach.

When Moondog isn’t drunk or high, he is attempting to write the next great American novel. However, his interactions with the colorful Flicker (Zac Efron), Lingerie (Snoop Dog), and Captain Wack (Martin Lawrence) make it hard for Moondog to buckle down and focus.

6 Ken Park (2002) 5.9

Seven years after writing Kids for director Larry Clark, the two collaborated on the independent skateboarding movie, Ken Park.

Written by Harmony Korine and Larry Clark, the movie focuses on the familial camaraderie of a group of California skaters who come from troubled home life. At its heart, however, the movie is an oddball tale of eroticism that explores the seedy side of the skaters’ secret sexual encounters.

5 The Fourth Dimension (2012) 6.1

The Fourth Dimension is a three-part anthology film in which Korine is joined by Russian director Alexey Fedorchenko and Polish director Jan Kwiecinski. Starring Val Kilmer, Korine’s segment is entitled “The Lotus Community Workshop.”

Korine’s vignette follows a motivational speaker (Kilmer) who attends a local bowling alley in Nashville, Tennessee. Kilmer gives a nonsensical speech to a gathering of intrigued citizens that underscores the futility of motivational speakers.

4 Mister Lonely (2007) 6.5

The charming offbeat comedy Mister Lonely is the third feature Korine directed in his career. The story follows a modest young man (Diego Luna) eeking out a living in Paris as a Michael Jackson impersonator.

When Jackson meets a Marilyn Monroe impersonator (Samantha Morton), she invites him to a strange party in Scotland and introduces him to her husband, Charlie Chaplin (Denis Lavant), and their daughter, Shirley Temple (Esme Creed-Miles). Along with Madonna, James Dean, Sammy Davis Jr., Abraham Lincoln, and other famous lookalikes, the group attempts to open an experimental theater to perform for the public.

3 Gummo (1997) 6.7

Korine made his directorial debut with Gummo, an avant-garde coming-of-age tale about a community of aimless and impoverished Ohio natives trying to navigate their dead-end existence.

Years after a tornado ravages their small town, wayward teens Solomon (Jacob Reynolds) and Tummler (Nick Sutton) try to find meaning in their lives through a rash of debased criminal activity and disturbing behavior.

2 Julien Donkey-Boy (1999) 6.8

In one of the most challenging films for any audience to watch, Julien Donkey-Boy is an excruciating look at the life of Julien (Ewen Bremmer), a man with untreated schizophrenia who comes from an abusive home.

With a frightening father (Werner Herzog) who listens to music while wearing a gas-mask, a neglectful grandmother who’d rather tend to her pet pooch, an inferred inappropriate relationship with his sister, and a dead mother he has telephone conversations with, Julien’s life is unlike any seen in film or television since.

1 Kids (1995) 7.1

The first writing credit of Korine’s career came via the 1995 film Kids, a gritty examination of the sexual exploits of several lost, drug-using teenagers in New York.

Set over the course of one day, the film traces the daily routine of Telly (Leo Fitzpatrick), a brash teenager determined to sleep with as many girls as possible. Telly’s mission is compromised when he learns that one of his former lovers has contracted HIV. Unafraid, Telly continues with his plan, despite the consequences.