The Beach is a 2000 drama film by the Trainspotting team of writer John Hodge, producer Andrew Macdonald and director Danny Boyle based on The Beach, a 1996 novel by Alex Garland. The film stars Leonardo DiCaprio, Tilda Swinton, Robert Carlyle, Virginie Ledoyen and Guillaume Canet.

Plot

Richard (Leonardo DiCaprio), a young American backpacking in Thailand, has come to Southeast Asia with the intention of experiencing something radically different from his familiar life. He hears of an island paradise commonly held to be urban legend. According to rumor, a secret community of travelers who have left behind their former lives inhabits the island. Richard initially dismisses the island's existence, but later meets Daffy (Robert Carlyle), who identifies himself as a former inhabitant and gives Richard a map. Shortly afterward, Daffy commits suicide.

Richard meets Françoise (Virginie Ledoyen) and her boyfriend, Étienne (Guillaume Canet), and convinces them to accompany him to the island. They travel from Bangkok to the shores of Koh Phangan, in the Gulf of Thailand where Richard befriends a pair of American surfers who mention the legend. He does not admit his knowledge but copies his map and slides it under their door.