Entertainment

'The White Lotus' critiques luxury tourism while also promoting it with partnerships

Published

12 months ago

March 3, 2025

'The White Lotus' critiques luxury tourism while also promoting it with partnerships

When it premiered back in 2021, “The White Lotus” was a sharp class satire aimed at skewering high-end tourism and the elite one-percenters willing to pay $9,000 a night to relax. Written and directed by Mike White, the darkly comic mystery followed the entitled guests and beleaguered employees at a luxurious Maui hotel over the course of an increasingly tense week.

A destination that was supposed to be a refuge from the world’s problems instead became a microcosm for them, a place where the class divide and legacy of American imperialism were on vivid display. “The White Lotus,” which was filmed its first season on location at the Four Seasons in Maui, somehow made an exclusive resort seem like a toxic pressure cooker. Working there was not just soul-crushing, it could even kill you.

Season 2, a bedroom farce set at a gorgeous beachfront resort in Sicily, looked at sex, money and power. Both installments lampooned the wealthy and depicted people dying under tragic circumstances in picturesque locations. And perhaps counterintuitively, both seasons led to a tourism boom in the filming locations. Somehow, a show that sharply critiqued luxury travel also functioned as a glossy advertisement for it.

This contradiction is even more pronounced in Season 3 of “The White Lotus,” which premiered on HBO last month. Set on the island of Koh Samui in Thailand, the latest installment follows tradition by opening with a dead body. But it also explores new themes, including the clash between Western materialism and Eastern spirituality, particularly Buddhism. This season’s fictional White Lotus is known for its wellness program. Guests are encouraged to put away their phones for the duration of their stay and avail themselves of offerings like yoga, meditation and massage.

Sam Nivola, Sarah Catherine Hook and Patrick Schwarzenegger in “The White Lotus.” Characters are encouraged to put away their phones for the week.

(Fabio Lovino / HBO)

Hollywood movies and TV shows tend to focus on the more decadent aspects of Thai culture — from the all-night Full Moon Party to sex tourism in Bangkok. The team behind “The White Lotus” wanted to showcase other sides of the country.

“Obviously that exists here, but it doesn’t define Thai culture,” executive producer David Bernad said in a phone interview last month from Bangkok, where the show was having a splashy local premiere attended by its cast, including Thai-born K-pop star Lalisa Manobal, a.k.a. Blackpink’s Lisa, who stars as a worker at the hotel. “What we attempted to do is depict Thailand in an authentic way — the beauty of the people and the culture — in a way that hopefully brings more positive interest back to Thailand.”

The season was made in partnership with the Tourism Authority of Thailand and the Four Seasons, which once again served as a filming location for the series. The government of Thailand also offered generous tax rebates to the production. HBO collaborated with a slew of brands to create an array of “White Lotus”-inspired products, including $98 scented candles, $48 sunscreen, $325 overnight bags, $725 dresses and $4.50 flavored coffee creamers. Despite its often dark themes and cynical take on humanity, the show clearly has become an aspirational marketing vehicle for brands across the spectrum. Why, exactly, is a show about terrible people behaving badly (and dying) so appealing to these companies?

“I genuinely don’t know the answer. It’s a very weird thing,” Bernad said. “It’s surreal, knowing that the original construction of the show was so intimate and small. For me, it still feels strange that anyone is paying attention.”

Given what a pop culture juggernaut “The White Lotus” has become, it is easy to forget it was conceived as a stopgap — a show that could be made quickly and safely in a single, isolated location during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, when HBO was in desperate need of fresh programming.

The original plan was to film in Australia, where strict lockdowns helped keep the pandemic in check. When that proved too difficult, Hawaii became the obvious choice. The setting offered stunning natural beauty but also rich themes to explore, particularly American colonialism and the plight of Native Hawaiians.

Similarly, Season 2 was almost set in France but wound up in Sicily after a scouting trip to Taormina, where a tour guide told them the legend behind the decorative moor’s head statues found in the region that became a motif in the series. “That was the kickoff to Mike wanting to write this bedroom farce season about sexual politics,” Bernad said.

Season 3 was always envisioned as an “exploration of Eastern versus Western philosophy,” Bernad said. But Plan A was to film in Japan, a country where they’d been keen to make something for years. Largely as a courtesy to HBO, White and Bernad also visited Thailand. (White had negative associations with Koh Samui in particular because he’d been sequestered on the island after getting eliminated from “The Amazing Race.”)

A woman holding a book and smiling at a woman.

But ultimately they were charmed by the country and its people. White also was struck by a fit of inspiration when he came down with bronchitis while in the city of Chiang Mai. He was treated with potent steroids and “hallucinated the entire season,” Bernad said. “Honestly, the next day, we were scouting in the van, and he told me about his dream. It’s basically what we shot — his steroid-induced dream.”

Relocating the show to Thailand, where more than 90% of the population is Buddhist, “allowed us to explore Buddhism as a religion and a philosophy,” Bernad said. One of their creative goals was presenting a more nuanced version of Thai culture than is typical of Western media. “It’s usually like ‘The Hangover Part II,’ exploiting the darker side of Bangkok. But that’s not what we set out to do,” he said.

One of the characters this season, Piper Ratliff (Sarah Catherine Hook), is a religious studies major who has dragged her wealthy Southern family to Thailand so that she can interview a Buddhist monk for her thesis. Her spiritual curiosity is baffling to her family, who are skeptical of the many wellness offerings at the hotel.

Koh Samui is “like detox island,” a place well-heeled tourists come to engage in practices they associate with Buddhism but are often a mishmash of different spiritual traditions, said Brooke Schedneck, a religious studies professor at Rhodes College whose research centers on Buddhism and religious tourism in Thailand. “Everyone coming off the plane [in Koh Samui] has their yoga mats,” she said. Places like the fictional White Lotus “draw on this idea of Thailand as a Buddhist place but [offer] wellness options that don’t necessarily connect to Buddhism.” (You’d never practice yoga in a Buddhist temple, for instance.)

“I think it’s really funny how … most of them are going to this wellness resort, and then they’re like, ‘I don’t want to do wellness. Why do I have to do this?’” Schedneck said of the hotel’s spoiled guests. ”It shows the individualistic, Western mindset of ‘I want to do whatever I want.’”

Yet the contradiction between East and West may not be as stark as one might assume. Some Westerners wrongly assume that because Buddhism is so prevalent in Thailand, it means people are less interested in material things. “The idea that Buddhism can encompass and encourage wealth is something that’s difficult for people to grasp,” Schedneck said.

For the Four Seasons, “The White Lotus” has been an undeniably powerful marketing tool — despite the death and dissolute behavior that goes on at the resorts in the series. The formal partnership, launched ahead of Season 3, means the company can use “White Lotus” IP and do branded activations, including poolside cabanas and viewing parties, at its resorts. The Four Seasons also recently announced a 20-day excursion in which guests will travel aboard the company’s private jet to the show’s three filming locations.

A group of people seated at a table under a large cabana.

As part of its partnership with HBO and “The White Lotus,” the Four Seasons is featuring food and experiences inspired by the show. (Courtesy of Four Seasons Resorts)

A woman and a man sitting in an infinity pool overlooking a beach and the ocean.

A poolside villa at the Four Seasons Resort Koh Samui, featured in the show. (Courtesy of Four Seasons Resorts)

As part of its marketing research, the company conducts monthly surveys with high-net-worth individuals. The questionnaire now includes questions about “The White Lotus.” Of the millennials surveyed, 88% were aware of both brands, and 71% said they were highly likely to visit properties featured in the series.

“We know that if we pick the right show, and if the hotel has been featured in the right way, it has a huge business impact, and it’s the best PR we can do,” said Marc Speichert, executive vice president and chief commercial officer at the Four Seasons. He is already seeing a surge of online interest in the Koh Samui property: Visits to the site are up nearly 600% over the same time last year.

“Everybody knows that this is obviously a fiction. The White Lotus isn’t the Four Seasons, per se. It just uses the hotel as a backdrop. The PR that we’re getting is about how incredible the hotel looks,” Speichert said. (He said that characters like Belinda, played by Natasha Rothwell in Seasons 1 and 3, and Valentina, played by Sabrina Impacciatore in Season 2, reflect the kind of people who do work at the Four Seasons.)

Previous seasons of “The White Lotus” led to a surge of visitors to Maui and Sicily. In Thailand, where tourism is a major industry, an influx would be welcome. The country saw 35 million foreign visitors last year, according to the Tourism Authority of Thailand, which aims to increase that number to 40 million in 2025.

“Thailand acting as the setting of ‘The White Lotus’ Season 3 allows us to reach a truly global audience, and offers a unique opportunity to showcase Thailand’s breathtaking landscapes, rich culinary scene, vibrant culture, natural beauty and, most importantly, the people and the warmth of Thai hospitality,” said Chompu Marusachot, director of the TAT’s New York office.

An increase in visitors would be an economic boon for Thailand, but there is also concern about the potential environmental impact more visitors would have on the country, particularly Koh Samui, which already struggles with a shortage of fresh water and an overflowing landfill, according to reports from local residents. Other Hollywood productions offer cautionary tales: “The Beach,” released in 2000, helped turn Maya Bay on the island of Ko Phi Phi Leh into a major tourist destination that received as many as 5,000 visitors a day. Because of the resulting pollution, an estimated 80% of the coral in the bay was destroyed. Authorities eventually closed the beach for several years and now restrict access. HBO did not provide comment when asked about the environmental impact of filming “The White Lotus” in Koh Samui.

But for Bernad, making the series in Thailand taught him the importance of treading lightly. “You have to come in with a humility that you’re not imposing your way of production,” he said. “You’re learning from the local crew and producers, and adjusting to their needs.” Good advice for producers — and tourists — alike.

Movie Reviews

MOVIE REVIEWS: “Mercy,” “Return to Silent Hill,” “Sentimental Value” & “In Cold Light” – Valdosta Daily Times

Published

3 hours ago

February 27, 2026

Press Room

“Mercy”

(Thriller/Crime: 1 hour, 39 minutes)

Starring: Chris Pratt, Rebecca Ferguson, Kali Reis

Director: Timur Bekmambetov

Rated: PG-13 (Violence, bloody images, strong language, drug content and teen smoking)

Movie Review:

“Mercy” is a science fiction movie based on one of the more common themes of moviedom lately, artificial intelligence (AI). This crime thriller cleverly creates an intriguing story using technology and the justice system, yet it fails to be consistently interesting and intelligent throughout. The conclusion is less significant than the initial setup, as the concluding scenes become typical action sequences.

Detective Chris Raven (Pratt) of the LA Police Department is a huge supporter of the city’s new judicial courtroom. Crimes are now judged by an AI program (Ferguson) in the Mercy Court. The court is run by an artificial program that makes decisions based on all of the evidence before it without any prejudice. Detective Raven is all for this system until he is convicted of killing his wife. Now he must use all of the data, including the AI‘s ability to tap into everyone’s electronic devices, security cameras, and even into government files, within reason, to prove he did not murder his wife.

Mercy is an interesting movie. It entertains throughout, even when the story gets sloppy and characters’ actions are irrational. This mainly occurs during the final scenes. The movie tries too hard to insert unneeded narrative twists. This is disappointing because the story is interesting. What makes it fascinating is that it happens in real time. This is the most brilliant facet.

All the other theatrics are unnecessary. Director Timur Bekmambetov (“Profile,” 2018; “Wanted,” 2008) and “Mercy’s” producers should have just kept the ending simple, no plot twists or superfluous action sequences.
Grade: C (This flick needs some mercy. Let the trial begin.)

“Return to Silent Hill”

(Horror: 1 hour, 46 minutes)

Starring: Jeremy Irvine, Hannah Emily Anderson and Robert Strange

Director: Christophe Gans

Rated: R (Bloody violent content, strong language and brief drug use.)

Movie Review:

“Return to Silent Hill” is about one man’s quest to return to the love of his life. The problem is she has moved on to the afterlife. Meanwhile, audiences lose part of their life watching this movie, which is unlike any of the two prequels in this series. This one is a psychological horror that bores.

Artist James Sunderland (Irvine) decides to return to Silent Hill, a place where many people died during a devastating illness that nearly enveloped the entirety of the city’s population. What is left there is a horror show of freakish creatures, all with violent intent. Still, Sunderland searches for the love of his life, Mary Crane (Anderson).

Think of this movie as a slow suicide, where a guy goes back to retrieve his dead girlfriend. To do so, he must travel to the modern land of the dead that Silent Hill has become. This one is a type of swan song by the main character, and the movie becomes less scary while lackluster romantic notions wander aimlessly.

Grade: D (Do not return to see this.)

“Sentimental Value”

(Drama: 2 hours, 13 minutes)

Starring: Renate Reinsve, Stellan Skarsgård, Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas and Elle Fanning

Director: Joachim Trier

Rated: R (Language, sexual reference, nudity and thematic elements)

Movie Review:

“Sentimental Value” is a Norwegian film that won the Grand Prix in France’s Cannes Film Festival and was nominated for nine Academy Awards, including Best Motion Picture. It is a solid drama filled with symbolism and family connections. It is brilliant performances by a talented cast under the direction of Joachim Trier (“The Worst Person in the World,” 2021).

This screenplay is about Gustav Borg (Skarsgård). He is a father, grandfather and a famed film director. He stayed away from his two daughters, actress Nora Borgwhile (Reinsve) and historian Agnes Borg Pettersen (Lilleaas), while he was creating works as a filmmaker. The director comes back into the lives of his daughters after the death of their mother. Their reunion leads to a rediscovery of their bond at their family home in Oslo.

Stellan Skarsgård is always a solid actor. He takes his roles and makes them tangible characters that seem like you know them, even when they’re speaking a foreign language. That is the quality of his act and why he gets nominated for multiple awards each season.

“Sentimental Value” is a valuable movie filled with enriching sentiment. It is an enjoyable film for those who value a good drama. The acting and original writing alone make the movie worth it. “Sentimental Value” starts in a very simple way, but everything in between, even when low-key, remains potent. Joachim Trier and writer Eskil Vogt have worked together on multiple projects such as “The Worst Person in the World” (2021). Their pairing is once again worthy.

Grade: A- (Any motive valuable movie.)

“In Cold Light ”

(Crime: 1 hour , 36 minutes)

Starring: Maika Monroe, Allan Hawco and Troy Kotsur

Director: Maxime Giroux

Rated: R (Violence, bloody images, strong language and drug material)

Movie Review:

“In Cold Light” sticks to a very straightforward story, primarily taking place over a short period. The problem is the story leaves one in the cold. Audiences have to guess what is being communicated because this movie uses American Sign Language (ASL) without subtitles. For those moviegoers who do not know ASL, they are left deciphering characters’ actions and facial expressions during some pivotal scenes.

Ava Bly (Monroe) attempts to start a legit life after prison. Her life changes when Ava’s twin, Tom Bly (Jesse Irving) is murdered while seated next to her. As her brother’s killers pursue her, Ava must evade law enforcement, which contains some crooked cops led by Bob Whyte (Hawco).

For a brief moment, this movie hits its exceptional moment when Oscar-recipient Helen Hunt enters the picture as a motherly Claire, a crime boss who seems more like a social worker/psychologist. Her long scene is wasted as it arrives too late.

French Canadian director Maxime Giroux’s style has potential in his first English-language film, but it does not fit a wayward narrative. A rarity, this crime drama has characters commit many dumb actions at once.

Moreover, Giroux (“Félix et Meira,” 2014) and writer Patrick Whistler forget to let their audiences in on their story. They allow much to get lost in translation, especially during heated conversations between Monroe’s Ava and her father, Will Bly, played by Academy Award-winning actor Troy Kotsur (“CODA,” 2021).

Grade: C- (Just cold and dark.)

More movie reviews online at www.valdostadailytimes.com.

Entertainment

Paramount-Warner Bros. deal stirs fears about what it means for CNN

Published

5 hours ago

February 27, 2026

Press Room

Paramount-Warner Bros. deal stirs fears about what it means for CNN

As the media industry took stock of Paramount Skydance’s startling acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery, one question lingered on the minds of many in the news business and beyond: What will this mean for CNN?

The iconic 24-hour cable news network is among the various Warner Bros. assets that would be scooped up by Paramount in a deal announced Thursday that could transform the media landscape.

Paramount has undergone a swift transformation under Chief Executive David Ellison following his family’s acquisition of the company last summer. These changes reached CBS News almost immediately with the appointment of Bari Weiss, the controversial Free Press co-founder, as its new editor in chief.

Bari Weiss moderated a town hall with Erika Kirk, widow of slain conservative activist Charlie Kirk.

(CBS via Getty Images)

Weiss’ tenure so far has been rocky.

Her decision to pull a “60 Minutes” story about conditions inside an El Salvador prison that housed undocumented Venezuelan migrants from the U.S. received widespread criticism and accusations of political motivation. The network said the story was held for more reporting, and the segment eventually aired.

There was more upheaval last week at the news magazine, when “60 Minutes” correspondent and CNN news anchor Anderson Cooper announced that he’d be leaving to spend more time with his family.

And earlier this year, a veteran producer at “CBS Evening News With Tony Dokoupil” was fired after he expressed disagreement about the editorial direction of the newscast.

Now, the concern is that similar changes could be in store for CNN, which has long been a target of President Trump’s ire. He has personally called for the ouster of hosts at the network who have questioned his policies.

CNN Worldwide Chief Executive Mark Thompson tried to quell some of those fears, particularly inside his own newsroom.

In an internal memo dated Thursday and obtained by The Times, Thompson urged employees not to “jump to conclusions about the future” and try to concentrate on their work.

“We’re still near the start of what is already an incredibly newsy year at home and abroad,” he wrote in the note. “Let’s continue to focus on delivering the best possible journalism to the millions of people who rely on us all around the world.”

Chairman and CEO of CNN Worldwide Mark Thompson and media editor for Semafor, Maxwell Tani, speak onstage.

CNN declined to comment beyond Thompson’s memo.

Ellison has said his vision for a news business is one that is ideologically down the middle.

“We want to build a scaled news service that is basically, fundamentally in the trust business, that is in the truth business, and that speaks to the 70% of Americans that are in the middle,” he said during a Dec. 8 interview on CNBC, shortly after Warner said it had chosen Netflix as the winning bidder for its studios, HBO and HBO Max. “And we believe that by doing so that is for us, kind of doing well, while doing good.”

Ellison demurred when asked whether Trump would embrace him as CNN’s owner, given the president’s past criticisms of the network.

“We’ve had great conversations with the president about this, but … I don’t want to speak for him in any way, shape or form,” he said.

First Amendment scholars have raised concerns about press freedom and free speech rights under the Trump administration, particularly after last month’s arrest of former CNN journalist Don Lemon and the Federal Communications Commission’s pressure on late-night hosts like Jimmy Kimmel and Stephen Colbert.

Press freedom groups have long asked questions in other countries about how authoritarian regimes use their power and “oligarchical alliances to belittle, silence, and punish independent journalistic voices, or to steer media ownership toward … a preferred version of the truth,” said RonNell Andersen Jones, a 1st Amendment scholar and distinguished professor in the college of law at the University of Utah, in an email.

“We see them asking at least some of these questions about the U.S. today,” she wrote.

Apprehension about the merger also extends beyond its implications for CNN and the media business.

Lawmakers such as Rep. Laura Friedman (D-Glendale), Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) and Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) have raised concerns about how the consolidation of two major Hollywood studios could affect industry jobs and film and television production — which has significantly slowed since the pandemic, the dual writers’ and actors’ strikes in 2023 and corporate cutbacks in spending.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) called the deal an “antitrust disaster” that she feared could raise prices and limit choices for consumers.

“With the cloud of corruption looming over Trump’s Department of Justice, it’ll be up to the American people to speak up and state attorneys general to enforce the law,” she said in a statement.

Already, California Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta has said the merger isn’t a “done deal,” adding that he is in communication with other states attorneys general about the issue.

“As the epicenter of the entertainment industry, California has a special interest in protecting competition,” he posted Friday on X.

The deal is subject to approval by the U.S. Justice Department. Bonta and other state attorneys general are expected to file a legal challenge to the mega-merger on antitrust grounds.

Ellison addressed some of these concerns in a statement Friday.

“By bringing together these world-class studios, our complementary streaming platforms, and the extraordinary talent behind them, we will create even greater value for audiences, partners and shareholders,” he said. “We couldn’t be more excited for what’s ahead.”

Times staff writer Meg James contributed to this report.

Movie Reviews

Movie Review: ‘Goat’ – Catholic Review

Published

15 hours ago

February 27, 2026

Press Room

NEW YORK (OSV News) – “Goat” (Sony) is an animated underdog sports comedy populated by anthropomorphized animals. While mostly inoffensive, and thus suitable for a wide audience — including teens and older kids — the film is also easily forgotten.

The amiable proceedings center on teen goat Will Harris (voice of Caleb McLaughlin). As opening scenes show, it has been Will’s dream since childhood to play for his hometown team, the Vineland Thorns.

The inhabitants of Vineland and the other areas of the movie’s world, however, are divided into so-called bigs and smalls, with professional competition dominated, unsurprisingly, by the former. Though Will stoutly maintains that he’s a medium, those around him regard him as too slight and diminutive to go up against the towering bigs.

Despite this prejudice, a video showing Will more or less holding his own against a famous and arrogant big, Andalusian horse Mane Attraction (voice of Aaron Pierre), goes viral and inspires the Thorns’ devious owner, warthog Flo Everson (voiced by Jenifer Lewis), to give the lad a shot. Though Will is understandably thrilled, his path forward proves challenging.

Will has idolized the Thorns’ sole outstanding player, black panther Jett Fillmore (voice of Gabrielle Union), since he was a youngster. But Jett, it turns out, is not only frustrated by her situation as a star among misfits but scornful of Will’s ambitions and resolute in helping to deprive her new teammate of playing time.

Given such divisions, the Thorns’ fortunes seem destined to continue their long decline.

“Roarball,” the invented game featured in director Tyree Dillihay’s film, is essentially co-ed basketball by another name. As produced by, among others, NBA champion Stephen Curry, the movie — adapted from an idea in Chris Tougas’ book “Funky Dunks” — is an unabashed celebration of hoop culture both on and off the court.

Viewers’ enthusiasm may vary, accordingly, depending on the degree to which they’re invested in the real-life sport.

Moviegoers of every stripe will appreciate the fact that the script, penned by Aaron Buchsbaum and Teddy Riley, shows the negative effects of self-centeredness as well as the value of teamwork and fan support. Plot developments also showcase forgiveness and reconciliation.

Will’s story is, nonetheless, thoroughly formulaic and most of the screenplay’s jokes feel strained and laborious. Still, while hardly qualifying as the Greatest of All Time, “Goat” does provide passable entertainment with little besides a few potty gags to concern parents.

The film contains brief scatological humor and at least one vaguely crass term. The OSV News classification is A-II — adults and adolescents. The Motion Picture Association rating is PG — parental guidance suggested. Some material may not be suitable for children.