Richard, a young American seeking adventure in Bangkok, stays in a drab travelers' hotel in Khao San Road where he meets a young French couple, Françoise and Étienne, and he immediately becomes attracted to Françoise. He also meets the Daffy, who tells him of a pristine, uninhabited and restricted island in the Gulf of Thailand with a beautiful hidden beach and lagoon. Daffy explains that he and other travelers settled there in secret several years earlier, but difficulties arose and he chose to leave. Daffy commits suicide, leaving Richard a map to the island. Richard convinces Françoise and Étienne to accompany him to the island, and the three travel to Ko Samui. After getting locked out of his bungalow during a thunderstorm, Richard meets two American surfers who have heard rumors of the island, including huge amounts of cannabis supposedly growing there. Before departing, Richard leaves them a copy of the map. En route to the island, Richard becomes infatuated with Françoise. After swimming to the island from a neighboring one, they find a large cannabis plantation guarded by armed Thai farmers. Avoiding detection, they make their way across the island and meet English cricket fan Keatey, who brings them to a fully functioning community of travelers living on the island, totally in secret. Sal, the community's English leader, explains that the farmers allow them to stay so long as they keep to themselves and do not allow any more travelers to come to the island. Richard lies that they have not shown the map to anyone else, which satisfies Sal. The trio become integrated into the largely self-sufficient and leisurely community..... Directed by Danny Boyle Produced by Andrew Macdonald Screenplay by John Hodge Based on The Beach by Alex Garland Starring Leonardo DiCaprio Tilda Swinton Virginie Ledoyen Guillaume Canet Robert Carlyle Music by Angelo Badalamenti John Cale Brian Eno Cinematography Darius Khondji Edited by Masahiro Hirakubo