Vanessa Hudgens gets her hands dirty in Ronald Krauss’ pro-life message movie Gimme Shelter. She gains 15 pounds, tries on an accent, and cuts her hair short. The young actress’ commitment to the role of 16-year-old Apple Bailey–a homeless, damaged, pregnant teen who finds sanctuary at a warm New Jersey shelter–didn’t end with her outward appearance, either: she spent three weeks living with the girls at the real-life shelter the film is based on. All the work paid off, as she does a solid job of disappearing into the role, with her glitzy red-carpet looks and bubbly public persona adequately melted away.

Apple is an angry, disheveled teen with a nasty attitude that screams “keep your damn distance”. After fleeing from her yellow-toothed, violently abusive, meth-addict mother June (Rosario Dawson, embarrassingly over-the-top), she breaks into the gated suburban property of her estranged, loaded father Tom (Brendan Fraser) and his wife Joanna (Stephanie Szostak), carrying a letter he wrote her when he was born. During her stay Apple discovers she’s pregnant, and Tom and Joanna (who’s more than miffed that Apple’s dirtying up her McMansion) suggest she get an abortion.

The “A” word is never muttered, but this is the point in the film where the the thinly veiled Catholic messages really begin to pile on. The film portrays the suggestion of an abortion as absolutely evil, which would be fine, if only Krauss (who wrote and directed) had earned it. Certainly a film should stand its ground with conviction if it wants to make a statement, but Krauss’ script is so dismissive of the pro-choice perspective that he chooses to portray it as simply evil and wrong. The issue deserves a more intelligent approach than that.

Apple runs away again, and after stealing and crashing a car, she ends up in the hospital where she meets a kind-hearted clergyman named Frank (James Earl Jones, predictably decent) who sets her up to live in a home for unwed pregnant teens run by Kathy DiFiore, played by Ann Dowd. In reality, DiFiore has been running her shelters and taking in girls just like Apple for over 30 years. Though there isn’t a real Apple Bailey, the character is based on the combined stories from actual girls who stay at DiFiore’s shelter, some of whom appear in the film.

The film gets super syrupy from here, attempting to get across that Apple’s connecting with the other girls on a meaningful level while being transformed into a respectable, responsible young lady by the kind-yet-stern DiFiore (played well by Dowd). The transition from messy street kid to dress-wearing nice girl doesn’t feel earned in the slightest, due to Krauss’ priority abruptly shifting to conveying how much of a godsend DiFiore and her shelter are. There’s a melodramatic scene in which DiFiore intercepts June when she attempts to snatch Apple from the home against her will. (Dawson spits and growls like a rabid pit bull and is just awful.) The scene should be about Apple, but it’s clearly designed to showcase Difiore’s goodness. Apple’s story gets lost in all the adulation.

Gimme Shelter was clearly made with good intentions, and if nothing else, Krauss and Hudgens deliver their message with conviction. Problem is, the vessel they’ve constructed to deliver said message is chock-full of holes.

Kathy DiFiore has sheltered pregnant teens in her New Jersey home for decades, and her work has garnered her worldwide praise, including from Mother Theresa. Inspired by her story, Gimme Shelter stars Vanessa Hudgens as Apple Bailey, a fictional character who’s an amalgamation of the real-life girls DiFiore shelters. In the film, we watch Apple struggle to find her way when her abusive mother (Rosario Dawson) and absentee father (Brendan Fraser) fail to provide the support she needs. Eventually, she finds Kathy (played by Ann Dowd) and her shelter, the home she never thought she’d find.

DiFiore has resisted talking to any press about her story and the stories of the girls she shelters, but that all changed when she met director Ronald Krauss, who convinced her to let him make the film and share her story with the world by getting involved and helping her at the shelter for over a year.

DiFiore and Krauss talked to us about how they linked up to make the project, how a hug started it all, Kathy’s relationship with Ann Dowd, Hudgens’ performance, and more.

Gimme Shelter releases nationwide this Friday, January 24th.

Kathy, you haven’t been known to talk to any press about your story…
Kathy: None at all. Zero.

Zero. You didn’t want to do it. So, what brought you to Ronald? What made him different?
Kathy: It’s what brought him to me. I was in hiding! (laughs) I’m a very spiritual person. I have a deep commitment to God. I’ve dedicated my life to God. I say, “God writes straight through crooked lines.” Through a variety of crooked lines, I got to meet Ronald. When I met him, he started to talk about his talents and possibilities, and I kind of just said, “Whatever.” I call it God’s divine timer: every five minutes, I kept hearing in my head, “Trust him. Trust him.” This had never happened to me before. I say this honestly. He kept talkint to me, and I opened up to him. I listened to him. Normally, I would just hang up the phone, make up some excuse, change the subject. Every single talk show has called me, and I’ve always said no. I wouldn’t even let the girls know, because I didn’t want them to get intrigued that they’d get on a show. As I got to know Ronald, I knew why God was saying to trust him. He’s really special, and the girls fell in love with him. They had told him things about their lives that I had never heard.

Ronald, you were at the shelter for a year, correct?
Ronald: I was there a year to write the script, and then I was going back and forth all the time, between casting, researching, and thinking about the idea of actually going back to the real shelter, shooting in the real shelter, and eventually putting the real girls and their babies in the movie, acting with Vanessa. I was trying to figure out whether it was a possibility to do this in an independent fashion, because, first of all, it was a small film. Second of all, it becomes this verité documentary film. My initial instinct was to shoot a documentary, but as I got into it, I realized that doing a feature film would reach so many more people. It was such an important story that had to be told. In these times, the film isn’t just about these shelters or teen pregnancy: this is a film that can unify us and help our society, which teaches us about selflessness, about helping people, about family, about compassion, about love. It’s about all these things, wrapped up in this little place. I said, “This has to happen,” and it did. Now, it’s more than a movie: it’s becoming sort of a movement. It’s touching on so many things that we need right now and that we need to explore with others.

That’s the thing about independent film: we need to be able to have these personal stories to share with others. Big films are great and entertaining, and those are important to in a way, but right now, this film connects with us and can help to show us that helping people is the way. This is the time–right now–to stop fighting on Black Friday to save ten bucks. Forget about yourself and what you need for five minutes and realize that we went through some tough times. What we really need is to lift each other up. This film heals us in a certain way. I’m not saying that has anything to do with me. It’s because of all of the people who worked on this film: the mothers, the babies, Kathy. This is a film about family.

You’ve said that this project started with a hug. Can you talk about that?
Ronald: I went to the shelter to do some research one night, and I met this girl standing out front. It was the middle of January, so it was 20 degrees out and she had no jacket on. I thought she was part of the shelter, but she didn’t. When Kathy showed up, she asked who the girl was, and I said I didn’t know. Kathy had a bed for her, and when I told the girl she could stay, she hugged me so hard she almost knocked me over. She crushed my heart, really. It made me think really deeply about what was happening at the shelter. Her name is Darlisha, and she actually acts in the film with Vanessa as one of the girls. Her story is half the story of Apple. Living in ten foster homes, the razor blade scene with the mother…that all happened to her. The movie’s also really a combination of all the girls, because they have so much in common when it comes to abuse and how society has made them outcasts. The shelter embraces them and picks them up off their feet, showing them that they’re as good as anybody else.

Kathy, what was it like working with Ann Dowd?
Kathy: It was like working with an angel. She’s so sweet. She has her own foster child who she cares for. She took such care with the character. She’d come up to me with Ron’s permission and ask me for guidance. I’d coach her as best I could. When she’d be filming, she’d come back and ask, “Was it okay? How did you feel about it?” I never changed anything she did. She was superb. We became like sisters. I miss her. I wish she was here today. When she plays my part, I cry, because she does such a good job that I feel sorry for myself at times. When Rosario comes to the shelter and whacks her daughter in the face, I cry every time. It’s such a complex scene, and Ann is the anchor of it.

Ronald: Ann is one of the most underrated actors in Hollywood. She turns in performance after performance, she does theater…she’s so strong. Rosario is explosive in that scene, and in that scene, Ann defines the character of Kathy. She’s so strong. She shows the audience the way. We got so lucky with this cast.
Kathy: You sometimes have to break your heart to be in love, and that’s okay. That’s what that scene says. Kathy’s heart is broken, Apple’s heart is broken. But the love just blossoms.

Vanessa spent time with the girls at the shelter as well, correct?
Ronald: She lived at the shelter for three weeks. She cried the first night wondering what she was doing there, in a sense. She signed up for the project wondering if it was a good idea. That was the transformation, leaving Vanessa behind and becoming Apple. She cut her hair off, gained 15 pounds, lived in the shelter and came out of there being this girl. When we shot the movie, she was Apple. The entire time I was calling her Apple. I don’t think I ever saw Vanessa. I didn’t meet Vanessa until after the movie was over. She somehow became this character, who is so far from her, in terms of her personality as Vanessa Hudgens. She’s an incredible actress. If you challenge this girl, she’s going to deliver. She’s on the cusp of being something great, and this movie shows it. I helped her, but in the end, she had the abilities. I’ve worked with some really good actors, and she really made my job easy. She gave me the confidence that I had the right person for this role.

[To wrap up, Kathy provided more information about the great work she does and how people can help.]

Kathy: I have written a book called Gimme Love…Gimme Hope…Gimme Shelter. It has nine “Apples” in it, it has Mother Theresa in it, who has quite a relationship with me. I think people will enjoy reading it. We’re calling this not a film, but a movement. We’re hoping people will be inspired to help us open shelters around the country. My website is severalsources.net. I have a shelter kit, so if people want to open shelters in various places, I will help them. I’ve been doing this for ten years, including places as far away as China. Get involved! We need more shelters. There are 750,000 pregnant teens in this country a year. Some can stay home with their loved ones, but others are on the streets, and we need to help them.

When the news came out that Harmony Korine, director of Gummo, Julien Donkey-Boy and Trash Humpers, was making a movie about spring break involving James Franco and Disney starlets, the reactions ranged from shock to boundless excitement. Korine’s sudden thrust into the mainstream shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise given the subject matter; Spring break is one of the more socially accepted forms of depravity, and Korine, who’s well-known for his depraved films, seems like a perfect match for making a movie about the one time of the year college-aged kids go nuts for. Korine has seemingly found the perfect niche to get him into multiplexes, and it’s an ingenious move on his part. Spring Breakers may have its pulse on what’s popular today, but Korine’s vision is still uncompromising as ever.

Spring Breakers opens in a Midwestern town where four best friends are trying to find a way to Florida for spring break. Candy (Vanessa Hudgens), Brit (Ashley Benson) and Cotty (Rachel Korine) are the hard partiers in the group, while Faith (Selena Gomez) is struggling between her desire to party and her Christian background. The four don’t have enough money to make the trip, prompting them to steal a car and use it to rob a restaurant. The robbery is the first of many great sequences, with Korine filming the girls from the getaway car outside as it circles the building. With their money raised up, the four hop on a bus and head for Florida.

Their plans for spring break are soon cut short when all of them get arrested, but within hours they’re bailed out by a local drug dealer and rapper named Alien (James Franco). Up to this point, Spring Breakers had little to no narrative outside the girls’ eagerness to experience spring break. With cinematographer Benoît Debie (known for working with Gaspar Noé) and editor Douglas Crise, Korine lets his film unfold like one long montage. The story periodically bubbles to the surface between moments of the characters either ambling about or partying it up. Franco, whose teaming up with Korine is a match made in heaven, suddenly snaps things into focus once he enters the picture.

Faith goes back home after the arrest and Alien’s lifestyle kills her desire to stick around, but the other three stay behind and join Alien as his partners in crime. This is when Spring Breakers finally lives up to the insanity of its premise, with a sequence involving Alien getting emasculated (in a way I won’t begin to describe here) followed by a montage with Britney Spears’ “Everytime” that’ll become one of the year’s most memorable scenes.

The high of those two scenes are never matched again, with a gang war involving another drug dealer (Gucci Mane) suddenly taking over the storyline. Spring Breakers’ liquid narrative starts to wear thin around this time as well, with Korine’s use of repetition and montage getting more frustrating as the structure coalesces into something more conventional. Despite the sluggish final act, Spring Breakers is already one of the best American films this year. Using the hyperstylized, neon-lit aesthetics associated with today’s MTV generation, Korine takes the “spring break forever” lifestyle and pushes it to the breaking point. If anything, Spring Breakers shows just how blurry the line is between the fun and horror of spring break.