Rebecca (Katie Chang) is an Asian-American teenager in Los Angeles who gets her thrills by stealing. She befriends Mark (Israel Broussard), a new kid at school, and soon they are involved in adventures of her making. They check out Facebook and Twitter mentions of celebrity schedules to learn when they will be out of town, then use the Internet to find out where they live. It turns out that most of these Beverly Hills homes lack proper security and are easy to enter. Rebecca takes charge of the operations, and Mark is just happy to be with someone who seems to like him; during the robberies he remains jittery and anxious about being caught.
After stealing lots of goodies from Paris Hilton's house, which turns out to be a cathedral to consumerism with a shoe collection to match Imelda Marcos', Rebecca and Mark decide to let two of their friends join them in their raids: Nicki (Emma Watson) and her sister Sam (Taissa Farmiga). They are happy to be part of their escapades given their celebrity worship and adoration of clothes, jewelry, and designer accessories. Their mother Laurie (Leslie Mann) has filled their heads with Law of Attraction cliches from a megachurch that promises wealth and success to positive thinkers.
Eventually, these teen thieves wind up stealing over $3 million worth of merchandise from Megan Fox, Orlando Bloom, Miranda Kerr, and others. When the thefts are reported and some video surveillance reveals that a group is involved, the media dub them "the bling ring."
Sophia Coppola (Lost in Translation, Marie Antoinette) directs this drama based on Nancy Jo Sales' 2010 Vanity Fair article "The Suspects Wore Louboutins." These bored adolescents are hooked on stealing as a passport into the world of high fashion, drugs, and dancing the night away. Once they are caught, Nicki uses her time to promote herself as a mini-celebrity during the trial. At one point, she expresses her excitement over having shared a cellblock with Lindsay Lohan.
Coppola helps us remove our blinders to the shadow side of American consumer and celebrity culture. She shines a spotlight on the demented dimensions of desire, greed, celebrity worship, and conspicuous consumption, revealing how these excesses affect youth. With nothing or nobody stopping them (until they get caught by the police), these amoral teens feel entitled to whatever they want as the put all their energy into experiencing the manifold pleasures of the slogan "Have it Your Way."
Special features on the DVD include "Making The Bling Ring: On set with Sofia, the cast and crew" featurette; "Behind the Real Bling Ring" featurette; and "Scene of the crime with Paris Hilton" featurette.