What would you do for a Klondike bar? Would you bark like a dog?

What would you do to maintain the secret of Nirvana? Would you murder a shark-bitten Swede? Leo DiCaprio sure would!

In Danny Boyle’s 2000 film The Beach, some intrepid travelers seek a hidden island paradise for non-parasites in Thailand, a country where marijuana was recently legalized! After their deeply disturbed fellow traveler, Daffy, commits suicide on the Khao San Road, Richard discovers a map bequeathed to him by Daffy that leads to a forbidden beach so perfect, it was formerly thought of as nothing more than an urban myth.

Richard’s bizarre journey includes a French couple, Etienne and Francoise, who like to have loud sex. The threesome’s difficult travels pay off when they finally arrive at The Beach, but this fairy tale land-turned coveted reality conceals a dark truth. 

The Beach is occupied by a group of hippie psychos who viciously guard their seaside commune, which also happens to be equipped with a manipulative ice queen and dangerous drug farmers who favor a Thai variation of Russian Roulette.

There is almost too much to unpack when it comes to The Beach. Suffice it to say that, in this movie adapted from Alex Garland’s far superior debut novel, we discover that when paradise comes at too steep a price, it’s not the journey or the destination so much as the escape.

Join Darth, Jason, and Adam for a dive into The Beach. 

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