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The White Lotus is an American black comedy-drama anthology television series created by Mike White for HBO. It follows the guests and employees of the fictional White Lotus resort chain whose stay is affected by their various psychosocial dysfunctions. The first season is set in Hawaii; the second in Sicily.
Intended as a six-part limited series, The White Lotus premiered on July 11, 2021, to critical acclaim and high ratings. The show's success led to HBO renewing it as an anthology series; a second season premiered on October 30, 2022. In November 2022, the series was renewed for a third season. While no official announcement has been made, Variety reports that the third season will be filmed in Thailand, and that Natasha Rothwell will reprise her role as Belinda from the first season.
The series received a positive critical response. It was included on the American Film Institute's list of the ten best programs of 2021 and 2022, and received various accolades including ten Primetime Emmy Awards, and two Golden Globes.
The series details "a week in the life of vacationers as they relax and rejuvenate in paradise. With each passing day, a darker complexity emerges in these picture-perfect travelers, the hotel's cheerful employees, and the idyllic locale itself."
On October 19, 2020, HBO gave The White Lotus a limited series order that consisted of six episodes. The series was created, written and directed by Mike White. White also serves as executive producer alongside David Bernad and Nick Hall. In an interview with Ben Travers of IndieWire at the 2021 ATX Television Festival, White explained his creative inspiration for the first season. White wished to explore the question of "how money can pervert even our most intimate relationships," to examine the "ethics of vacationing in other people's realities," and to present the "flesh and blood" experience of being gripped by the power dynamics of "today's culture wars". Cristobal Tapia de Veer is the series' composer and Ben Kutchins is the cinematographer for the series.
On August 10, 2021, HBO renewed the series for a second season, which consists of seven episodes and is titled The White Lotus: Sicily. White initially envisioned the second season taking place in a political setting, such as a Bilderberg conference, but scrapped this idea and chose Italy instead. White said regarding this choice, "The kind of mythology of Sicily, at least from the point of view of Americans, is the archetypal sexual politics and role play that you associate with, like, opera and the mafia and Italian romance. I felt like it should be more focused on men and women and relationships and adultery and have an operatic feel to it, so I pivoted." Asked to describe the second season, White likened it to "a bedroom farce with teeth". Kim Neundorf served as an additional composer for season two.
On November 18, 2022, HBO renewed the series for a third season. Following the season two finale, creator Mike White hinted that the third season would be set in Asia and invoke a "satirical and funny look at death and Eastern religion and spirituality", similar to how the first season focused on money, and the second season on sex.
In March 2023, Variety reported season 3 is likely to take place in one of Four Seasons resorts chain in Thailand.
The third season production is disrupted by the 2023 Writers Guild of America strike and delayed its release date to 2024.
Upon the limited series order announcement, Murray Bartlett, Connie Britton, Jennifer Coolidge, Alexandra Daddario, Fred Hechinger, Jake Lacy, Brittany O'Grady, Natasha Rothwell, Sydney Sweeney, and Steve Zahn were cast to star. On October 30, 2020, Molly Shannon, Jon Gries, Jolene Purdy, Kekoa Kekumano, and Lukas Gage joined the cast in recurring roles. Alec Merlino, who was a fellow contestant on Survivor: David vs. Goliath with Mike White, was cast as Hutch, a waiter.
Upon the announcement of the second season renewal, it was reported that a predominantly new cast of characters would be focused on at another White Lotus property for the second season, though Mike White had stated there was a possibility for a few cast members from the first season to return as their characters. On October 15, 2021, it was reported that Coolidge was set to return for the second season. In January 2022, it was announced that Michael Imperioli, Aubrey Plaza, F. Murray Abraham, Adam DiMarco, Tom Hollander, and Haley Lu Richardson were cast to star in the second season. In February 2022, Theo James, Meghann Fahy, and Will Sharpe joined the cast as series regulars while Leo Woodall was cast in a recurring role for the second season. In March 2022, Beatrice Grannò, Sabrina Impacciatore, and Simona Tabasco joined the starring cast for the second season. The second season features White's fellow Survivor: David vs. Goliath contestants Kara Kay and Angelina Keeley in cameo roles. Upon the third season renewal announcement, it was reported that there will be a new cast of characters on another White Lotus resort. In April 2023, it was confirmed that Natasha Rothwell would be reprising her role as Belinda for the series' third season.
Principal photography for the first season began in October 2020 in Hawaii under COVID-19 guidelines. On November 21, 2020, it was reported that the series was halfway through filming at the Four Seasons Resort Maui at Wailea and was scheduled to film in December at locations around Maui. Zahn told The Hollywood Reporter that the Four Seasons was closed during filming, which resulted in a bubble for the cast and crew. Both he and Hechinger got PADI certified for the scuba scenes.
On January 20, 2022, it was announced that the second season would film at the Four Seasons San Domenico Hotel in Taormina, Sicily, Italy; on February 28, 2022, HBO confirmed that production had begun there. The opening theme of the second season, accompanied by a chorus of voices, shows scenes from the frescoes of Villa Tasca in Palermo. Filming took place in various locations in Sicily: throughout the city of Taormina, notably the San Domenico Palace hotel which represents the main location, and in the ancient theatre of Taormina; in Cefalù, with the long beach and the view of the Norman Cathedral; in Fiumefreddo di Sicilia (with the famous Slave Castle); in Palermo, in particular at the Teatro Massimo and at Villa Tasca; the interior scenes of the Opera house in Catania at the Teatro Massimo Bellini; in the city of Noto, in particular Villa Elena; Giardini Naxos; and different views of the seafront of Sicily and Mount Etna.
Chilean composer Cristobal Tapia de Veer was hired by White to score the series. The theme tune for season one, "Aloha!", was composed to evoke sounds of the jungle. Tapia de Veer used unusual methods, including over-blowing into a flute and performing squawking vocal noises and "monkey sounds" himself. He also used a South American charango, a dozen or so drums from different cultures (mostly handmade drums fashioned from wood and animal skin), a variety of natural shakers, and some piano.
For season 2, Tapia de Veer collaborated with his manager Kim Neundorf to finish original compositions due to his own scheduling conflicts. For the theme tune, Tapia de Veer wanted to keep elements of the season 1 theme but rework it to better fit the Italian setting, including making it more harmonious. The season 2 theme, "Renaissance", begins with oscillating notes on a harp and before the orchestral strings, piano chords, and cymbals are layered in before the return of ululating vocals. This then reaches a high pitch, before a synthetic EDM dance beat builds and drops. Tapia de Veer credits Neundorf for bringing a more organic sound to the production. Singer Stephanie Osorio provided the vocals, whom Tapia de Veer recorded holding a long, single note as she wavered the sound through her hand. Tapia de Veer then sampled this and played different versions of it on a keyboard.
According to Vulture, the costs of production of season 2 remained at under US$3 million per episode, the same as season 1. Italy, where season 2 was filmed, offers up to 40% tax credit to foreign productions taking place in the country.
The series premiered on July 11, 2021, on HBO and HBO Max. In the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland, the series premiered on Sky Atlantic on August 16, 2021. The second season premiered on October 30, 2022.
The first season was released on DVD on September 13, 2022.
Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reported an approval rating of 89% for the first season of The White Lotus based on 95 critic reviews, with an average rating of 8.4/10. The website's critics consensus reads, "Though its true intentions can get a bit murky, gorgeous vistas, twisty drama, and a pitch perfect cast make The White Lotus a compelling—if uncomfortable—viewing destination." On Metacritic, the season has a score of 82 out of 100 based on 39 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".
Matthew Jacobs of TV Guide rated it 4.5 out of 5 and wrote that it is "some of the year's best television thus far." Rolling Stone's Alan Sepinwall graded it 3.5 out of 5 stars and called it "frequently uncomfortable, sometimes poetic, occasionally hilarious, and deeply idiosyncratic throughout." White's attention to character detail was praised, with Naomi Fry of The New Yorker lauding his "affection for his characters, who never feel like caricatures", and Judy Berman of Time commenting he is "uniquely attuned to characters' internal conflicts as well as their varying level of self-awareness."The New York Times's James Poniewozik commended White's signature balance of "sardonic and sincere" tones and his "ear for how people can weaponize idealism", though he also noted the writing "sometimes strains to be topical, with its culture-war Mad Libs references to triggering and cucking, canceling and doxxing." The performances of the ensemble cast were widely praised, with Roxana Hadadi of RogerEbert.com giving four stars out of four and writing it reveals a "combination of performances that are nearly universally enthralling." Of the character of Armond, Poniewozik wrote Bartlett shows "the invisible gymnastics that go into this job" and plays him like "a coiled spring". Hadadi lauded Rothwell's "nuanced, elastic work" with a "haunting" final onscreen moment. Berman said Coolidge is poised to be the series' breakout but also praised Zahn, Bartlett, Rothwell, Lacy, Sweeney, and Daddario.
Criticisms of the first season lamented that the nonwhite, native Hawaiian characters who work at the resort, such as Lani and Kai, received little screen time and were the least developed characters. In this way, critics argued the show did not sufficiently engage in the topics of imperialism and white privilege, issues the show seemed poised to critique in its satirization of the affluent, white upper class. Poniewozik felt the show "could use more attention to the downstairs half of its upstairs-downstairs story; it flicks at, but doesn't really explore, the lives of the native Hawaiian staff busing tables and performing dinnertime rituals" for the guests. Mitchell Kuga of Vox wrote, "scraping at imperialism, The White Lotus mimes a moral center but never engages the topic beyond mere gesture...how successful can a piece of satire be if it replicates the very power structures it purports to satirize?" White has said the intention of giving native characters less screen time was to show how "interchangeable" the workers appear to the more privileged.
Inkoo Kang of The Washington Post said the characters and performances "make for a twisty, queasy, sweatily claustrophobic drama", but opined that next to other popular TV shows that center on white, affluent people, such as Succession, Big Little Lies, The Undoing, and The Crown, The White Lotus does not have anything new "to observe about the trail of casual destruction the moneyed and connected can leave in their unhappy wake." In The Observer, Kyle Turner wrote, "as someone who is very fond of White's usually tender, deft hand at balancing tone", he hoped the show had "more precision in its aimed poisoned arrows." Turner added the show is "too broad to be a good satire, too pointedly critical to be a straight tragedy, too invested in its melodrama to be a broad comedy, until it becomes ouroborosian in its indecision on tone and ethos. It's not that these genres and tropes can't coexist. It's that here, they float adrift, devoid of alchemical balance."
Critics were divided about the season one finale, with Kang saying the "swerve late in the series disappointingly sails the story toward calmer waters. Once the turbulence is over, only froth remains." Other critics, such as Emily St. James of Vox, argued that what they considered the anticlimactic nature of the ending was precisely the point of the show and underscored White's commentary on the powerful and the privileged.
The first season appeared in the top ten on numerous publications' "Best of 2021" lists, including first for The A.V. Club, The Globe and Mail, The Ringer, Slant Magazine, and The Sunday Times; second for The Boston Globe, Decider, Exclaim!, The Guardian, The Independent, New York Daily News, San Antonio Express-News, Sioux City Journal, Time, and Vulture; and third for Good Morning America, NME, and Uproxx, among others.
For the second season, Rotten Tomatoes reported a 94% approval rating with an average score of 8.20/10, based on 115 reviews. The website's critics consensus states, "Swapping its tropical trappings for Euro chic while focusing primarily on the corrosive influence of carnal desire, The White Lotus remains a cookie full of arsenic that goes down smooth." On Metacritic, the season has a score of 81 out of 100 based on 40 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".
Multiple critics voiced that White repeated the success of the first season with sharp writing, his ensemble cast, and more focused plot lines, with some saying it is an improvement on the first season. Lucy Mangan of The Guardian rated it 5 out of 5 and wrote, "The writing is as dense and layered as ever, the plotting is immaculate and the viewers' sympathies – or loathings – are never allowed to rest in one place for too long." Writing for The New Yorker, Inkoo Kang gave a positive review, writing "the airless sociological fatalism of Season 1, which was matched by a claustrophobic production due to covid-19 restrictions, gives way to a more mature drama, as well as a deeper exploration of how the characters' class concerns converge with gendered angst." Brian Tallerico of RogerEbert.com wrote, "Mike White is a writer that is as thrilled with a fascinating dinner conversation as he is a murder mystery, and so even as the plotting sags more than it did the first time, the way that his characters bounce off each other, unpacking their social constructs, remains fascinating." Alison Herman of The Ringer praised the series' pivot to the theme of gender politics, writing "White knows that sex, like money, is a form of power, and that each is intimately bound up in the other." Melanie McFarland of Salon observed, "You may not want to be in the same room with the people you're watching, but the sights alone provided a level of escapism like nothing else on TV." For The Washington Post, Travis M. Andrews wrote "though these new episodes meander at times, Season 2 is more tightly plotted and there are enough new ideas, with even the most staid insights heightened by White's razor-sharp writing, for it to feel fresh." Some critics welcomed the characters Mia and Lucia, two Sicilian sex workers whose plot lines intersect with many of the hotel guests', saying their presence felt like a response by White to criticisms of the previous season's focus on its well-off leads. Others noted how the second season "has invested in horror imagery in a way the previous outing didn't, and it's been one of this installment's best through lines."
Others thought the shift from the themes of class criticism to gender roles made for a less riveting watch. Writing for Vulture, Roxana Hadadi said season two "centers infidelity, to diminished effect", and that "there's also a new bluntness, and a noticeable tentativeness, that keeps this second season from hitting as hard and bruising as immediately as its predecessor." Vanity Fair's Richard Lawson wrote season two is a "vibrant set of plates to set spinning, which White does with his usual mix of acerbic bite and melancholy. Though, things do feel a little less pointed this season." Shirley Li of The Atlantic noted "Season 2 is as juicy as season 1, but it's not as caustic in its approach." Commenting on the more diminished role of the hotel staff, Linda Holmes of NPR wrote, "Thematically, without that tension between how the guests see themselves and how the staff sees them, The White Lotus seems adrift. With all the criticism of the first season and the fair questions about whether it was satirizing its rich and white characters' lack of interest in the people around them or just reproducing it, it was always clear what the show was trying to be about, or thought it was about. It was trying to be about the foibles of wealth and carelessness; it's much less clear where White is going with this story."
The second season appeared in the top ten on numerous publications' "Best of 2022" lists, including first for Good Morning America, The Independent, and San Antonio Express-News; second for the i; and third for Cleveland Plain-Dealer, Irish Independent, LA Weekly, Newsday, Radio Times, TV Insider, USA Today, and The Washington Post, among others.
The first season received 11 nominations at the 2022 Primetime Emmy Awards across five categories, winning for each. It was also nominated for nine Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards across eight categories, winning five. It was the series that won the most Emmys across both ceremonies.
The series included in the American Film Institute Awards top ten Programs of the Year list for 2021 and 2022. Other nominations include three Critics' Choice Television Awards (winning all), five Golden Globe Awards (winning two), and a People's Choice Award.
When HBO's The White Lotus season two came to an end, we immediately looked ahead to more episodes and the third season, which has officially been confirmed.
The second series was set at a fictional White Lotus resort in Sicily, Italy, and joined a whole new group of travellers, with the exception of Jennifer Coolidge and Jon Gries' characters, aka Tanya and Greg.
Much like in the first season, as the holiday progresses, problems begin to reveal themselves between the guests, and as seen in the first episode, a dead body will be discovered by the end of the season.
Now that we *finally* know how season two ends, and the show's creator Mike White has said he already has ideas for another season, here's everything we know about The White Lotus season three.
Maybe Sydney Sweeney, for starters! The actor recently dropped a massive hint that she could be returning for the third season of The White Lotus, leading fans to lose their s***. The actor played Olivia Mossbacher in the original season of the hit show, a spoilt teenage daughter experimenting with drugs on a family holiday.
"The White Lotus - are you going to be in the next one Thailand?" someone asked her in a red carpet interview, to which she replied, "I can't say anything about the next season. I can't say anything!"
Sounds pretty suspicious if you ask us!
*The White Lotus season 2 spoilers*
Much like season one and two, fans can assume a whole new bunch of The White Lotus guests and staff will star in the third series, thanks to the fact its in a new location.
The characters who bucked this trend were, of course, Tanya and Greg (played by Jennifer Coolidge and Jon Gries), but as viewers of the season two finale will know, Tanya died in *quite* the dramatic fashion.
One character who has been confirmed to be having a comeback is Belinda, who was left frustrated in season one after Tanya strung her along by suggesting she was going to invest in her wellness business. Instead, Tanya left The White Lotus hotel with Greg without seeing the plan through, leaving Belinda rejected.
In a April 2023 tweet, actor Natasha Rothwell confirmed the news, writing, "Belinda is back baby!!!" Rothwell’s role in season one earned her a nomination for best supporting actress in a limited or anthology series at the 2022 Emmys.
We are so excited for this.
White previously said he was thinking about a new location for the third season. Speaking to Deadline at the premiere of season two, he said: "We just turned in our last episode to the network yesterday, so it’s hard to think about the next race. But if we did, I think it’d be fun to maybe go to a whole different continent. You know, we did Europe, and maybe Asia, something crazy like that, that would be fun."
Just like in the first two seasons, the premise of a potential third season would probably follow a similar pattern of following a group of hotel guests at the fictional The White Lotus resort, getting into some trouble.
Speaking to HBO after the finale had aired, creator Mike White also touched on the themes he's considering for the third season. "The first season kind of highlighted money, and then the second season is sex. I think the third season would be maybe a satirical and funny look at death and Eastern religion and spirituality. It feels like it could be a rich tapestry to do another round at The White Lotus."
HBO announced a third season was officially happening with a tweet on 18th November. It read, "You already know The White Lotus is to die for. Book your next vacation now. #TheWhiteLotus has been renewed for Season 3."
The season two finale was released on 11th December.
Season three of The White Lotus was only confirmed in November 2022, so it's hard to know for sure. But following the pattern, season two was confirmed in August 2021 and began filming in February 2022. The show was then released at the end of October 2022, so if season three were to follow a similar schedule, we could maybe expect to see at the beginning of 2024.
The White Lotus season 2 is available to watch on Now TV.
The White Lotus season two came to its dramatic conclusion in December 2022, but Mike White is already looking ahead to the possibility of future seasons.
"We just turned in our last episode to the network yesterday, so it’s hard to think about the next race," White told Deadline during the red carpet premiere for The White Lotus season two. "But if we did, I think it’d be fun to maybe go to a whole different continent. You know, we did Europe, and maybe Asia, something crazy like that, that would be fun."
There's no confirmed word yet on the location of The White Lotus season three—but here's everything we know so far.
"Reflecting on The White Lotus humble, run-and-gun origin as a contained pandemic production, it’s impossible not to be awestruck by how Mike orchestrated one of the buzziest and most critically acclaimed shows," Francesca Orsi, executive vice president of HBO Programming and head of HBO drama series and films, said. "And yet, he’s only continued to reach new heights in season 2, which is the ultimate testament to Mike’s raw, unparalleled vision. His courage to explore the uncharted waters of the human psyche, paired with his signature irreverent humor and buoyant directing style, have us all dreaming of more vacation days at the resort we’ve come to adore. We couldn’t be more thrilled to get the chance to collaborate on a third season together."
Creator Mike White is excited, too. "I feel so lucky to get this opportunity again and am excited to reunite with my amazingly talented collaborators," he shared in a statement.
At Series Mania in March 2023, HBO's CEO Casey Bloys said White just pitched the idea for season three. "It’s great, a really fun idea," Bloys said.
In a later interview, Orsi shared the season is "an exploration about spirituality versus the ego. And it’s set against the Eastern religion. But beyond that, I can’t really speak to some of the character ideas that Mike has."
"The first season highlighted money, and then the second season is sex. I think the third season will be a satirical and funny look at death and Eastern religion and spirituality," White said in the aftershow of the season two finale. "It feels like it could be a rich tapestry to do another round at White Lotus."
The first season shot at the Four Seasons Maui, and the second season filmed at San Domenico, a Four Seasons Hotel in Taormina, so there's a good chance the third season will also be shot at a Four Seasons property. (Here's our best guesses as to where White Lotus season three will film.) In March 2023, Variety reported that season three will be set in Thailand, according to sources close to the production.
Johnny Knoxville (of all people!) maybe spoiled the location in a new interview with Vulture. When the interviewer asked him, "Just promise me that if The White Lotus season three comes your way, you’ll consider it," he replies, "Are you kidding? Mike White is a very close friend of mine. He and I had been in Tokyo together. I think that’s where the next … oh, I’m not giving anything away. I might call him again as soon as this is over."
Executive producer David Bernad, too, confirmed Asia as the location for season three. "We’ve tried to work in Asia a lot and hopefully season three will be our chance to make something happen there," he said.
White said at the premiere, "Jennifer is my friend and everybody loved her in the first season, and I was like, ‘I can’t go to Italy without Jennifer.’ And maybe that’s still the case. Like, maybe you can’t go to Japan without Jennifer, either. There are so many fun actors we’ve worked with so far, so it’s just kind of like who’s available." However, it seems as though press about Coolidge needing to be in another season was a ruse to throw watchers off of the scent of who dies in the opening.
Jennifer Coolidge, and Jon Gries, who played her on-screen husband Greg Hunt, were the only actors to return from the first season of The White Lotus.
Ahead of season two, White shared an idea for Connie Britton's character, Nicole, to return to the show. "He wanted me to be in the second season, and there was an idea that I loved for the character," Britton told Deadline. "Our intention is to do it in the third season. A piece of casting didn’t work in the second season and we’re hoping to that in the third season. I would love to see a spinoff on every character in that show."
In an interview in 2023, Britton said she has yet to be asked back for season three, but would love to return. "I have loved collaborating with him and I’ll say yes to him ’til the end of time," she said.
Season two's Michael Imperioli could return, too. "Who knows, maybe there’ll be another White Lotus season where Dominic comes with his wife and they patch it all up!" White told Esquire. Imperioli doesn't want to get his hopes up but, would love to come back. He said, "I don't want to think about it too much, because the idea of that makes me so happy. I don't want to be disappointed ... I would want nothing more than that. I just loved working with Mike so much."
One character that is definitely returning: Belinda, played by Natasha Rothwell. Variety first reported the news, and Rothwell confirmed it, tweeting, "Belinda is back baby!!!"
Season one debuted in summer 2021, and season two in fall 2022.
In spring 2023, HBO's Francesca Orsi told Deadline, "The White Lotus was ideally looking to go in 2024 but there’s some question about timing of the strike."
We'll update this as soon as we learn more.
Intended as a six-part limited series, The White Lotus premiered on July 11, 2021, to critical acclaim and high ratings. The show's success led to HBO renewing it as an anthology series; a second season premiered on October 30, 2022.
