"The White Lotus" is available on HBO Max. Additionally, you can stream live TV services like Spectrum and DirecTV to watch the program (both seasons).
While DirecTV still offers a 7-day free trial, HBO Max no longer provides a free trial. Therefore, if you are a first-time subscriber and watch all of the episodes during the trial period, you can watch the series without paying a dime. Furthermore, The White Lotus‘s first season can be purchased on Microsoft Stream, Apple TV, Amazon Prime Video, Play Store, and Vudu.
The satirical comedy series is set in a Hawaiian resort where privileged upper-class American families vacation to unwind from their busy lives and take in the natural beauty of the island. Shane and Rachel Patton, who are there for a romantic honeymoon, the Mossbacher family, whose members are either annoying and intolerable or simply too shy to even express their opinions, and Tanya McQuoid, a wealthy woman with an abundance of material possessions who is dealing with the unexpected death of her mother, are among the visitors.
As these odd characters and other guests come together for the perfect vacation, their disparate socioeconomic backgrounds clash in comical ways, producing unexpected results.
What is The White Lotus all about?
For HBO, Mike White created the American comedy-drama anthology television series The White Lotus. It centers on the fictional White Lotus resort chain's visitors and staff, whose dysfunctional behaviors have an impact on their accommodations. Hawaii is the setting for the first season, and Sicily is the location for the second. The White Lotus, a six-part limited series, debuted on July 11, 2021, to positive reviews and solid ratings.
With ten awards in the categories for limited series, the first season was the most honored series at the 74th Primetime Emmy Awards, including Outstanding Limited or Anthology Series, Outstanding Writing and Outstanding Directing for Mike White, Outstanding Supporting Actress for Jennifer Coolidge, and Outstanding Supporting Actor for Murray Bartlett. Due to the program's popularity, HBO decided to continue it as an anthology series; the second season debuted on October 30, 2022. A third season of the show was ordered and might premiere by late 2023 or early 2024.
Murray Bartlett, Connie Britton, Jennifer Coolidge, Alexandra Daddario, Fred Hechinger, Jake Lacy, Brittany O'Grady, Natasha Rothwell, Sydney Sweeney, and Steve Zahn were cast in the show after the limited series order was made public. Molly Shannon, Jon Gries, Jolene Purdy, Kekoa Kekumano, and Lukas Gage all began playing recurring parts in the second season. On "Survivor: David vs. Goliath," Mike White and Alec Merlino competed as teammates. Alec Merlino was chosen to play a waiter.
How was the critical response to the series “The White Lotus”?
Based on 95 reviews from critics with an average rating of 8.4/10, review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reported that The White Lotus' first season received an approval rating of 89%. "Though its true intentions can get a little murky, gorgeous vistas, twisty drama, and a pitch-perfect cast make The White Lotus a compelling—if uncomfortable—viewing destination," the website's critics' consensus reads. The season received a "universal acclaim" rating of 82 out of 100 on Metacritic, based on the reviews of 39 critics.
It received a 4.5 out of 5 star rating from TV Guide's Matthew Jacobs, who said it is "some of the year's best television thus far." 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."
James Poniewozik of The New York Times praised White's distinctive 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."
Rotten Tomatoes reported an 89% approval rating for the second season with an average score of 7.8/10, based on 82 reviews. According to the website's critics, "The White Lotus remains a cookie full of arsenic that goes down smooth, swapping its tropical trappings for Euro chic while focusing primarily on the corrosive influence of carnal desire." The season received a "universal acclaim" rating of 81 out of 100 on Metacritic, based on the reviews of 40 critics.
Were there any conditions for making The White Lotus?
When COVID struck, Mike White—who had previously collaborated on the critically acclaimed two-season drama "Enlightened" for HBO—was contacted by Francesca Orsi, HBO's head of drama, to see if he had any ideas for a show that could be produced under the new filming restrictions. White had the idea for a show right away, but there were three requirements before it could go forward: it had to be in a single location, it had to be secure, and each episode had to cost less than $3 million to produce.
Regarding the idea for the series, he told The New York Times, "I should just do a show about people on vacation who have money and how money is impacting all of their relationships." This is how The White Lotus's panoramic claustrophobia came to be.
FAQs
Q. Where can I stream the series The White Lotus with a subscription?
A. The series "The White Lotus" can be streamed on HBO Max.
Q. Where can I watch the series The White Lotus free of cost?
A. During the free 7-day DirecTV trial, you can watch the two-season drama The White Lotus.
Q. How many Primetime Emmy Awards did Mike White win for The White Lotus?
A. For The White Lotus, Mike White received three Emmy Awards.
