Pen-ek Ratanaruang spins a campfire ghost story with his new thriller 'Nang Mai'

Lace up your hiking boots, set up your tent and roll out your sleeping bag. It's time to go camping with director Pen-ek Ratanaruang and his latest movie, "Nang Mai" ("Nymph").

A romantic drama, ghost story and nature show combine in this thriller about a marriage that's lost in a thicket of dysfunction.

Floating like a moth, the camera pierces the impenetrable forest in vivid detail, with every sinuous root and knotted branch becoming a lead character. The actors rightly keep their portrayals subtle. No one can compete with Mother Nature.

Pen-ek spins a taut, thrilling tale that begins with the long-ago rape of a young woman. Her screams fade, and nothing's heard but the burbling stream and the drone of forest critters.

And then the woman's two assailants are floating dead in the water.

In modern Bangkok, a young couple endure a troubled marriage. Whatever spark Nop and May (Wanida "Gybzy" Termthanaporn and Nopachai "Peter" Jayanama) felt when they met has long since been snuffed out.

Office worker May is having an affair with her boss Korn (Chamanan Wanwinwet). Nop, a nerdy photographer, seems focused only on his work. They barely talk to one another, and when Nop does try to get intimate he's rebuffed.

They decide on a romantic camping trip, but the divide remains. May stays in the tent with her cellphone and laptop while Nop wanders the woods, photographing flora.

Heavy breathing

He's drawn to one particular tree, and starts caressing it. Then he goes missing. Calls to Nop's phone are answered, but only by the sound of heavy breathing.

May consults a pair of dryly comic forest rangers and is given an amulet necklace, but it's no use.

Distraught, she heads back to the city and into the eager arms of Korn. Then Nop shows up. Seemingly reborn, he's earthier and sensuous. And thirsty - he drinks a lot of water.

He disappears again, and May seems different. Korn is alarmed. And they return to the forest.

 INTO THE JUNGLE

>> "Nang Mai" ("Nymph") opens today.

>> The "Director's Cut" is playing in most cinemas. Pen-ek considers it to be the definitive version. It's 90 minutes long.

>> The "Cannes Version", which is 15 minutes longer, is playing at SFW CentralWorld.

 >> On the Web: www.Nang|MaiTheMovie.com.