The White Lotus: first trailer for third season hints at more satire and intrigue | The white lotus

Once again, trouble is on the horizon for White Lotus resorts. The first teaser trailer for the acclaimed HBO show’s third season hints at just as much intrigue, secrets and searing social criticism as the first two – this time on the beaches of Thailand.

The 90-second trailer backs up creator Mike White’s suggestion that the Emmy-winning series, which satirized wealth privilege at a Hawaiian resort in season one before moving to bedroom farce in Sicily in season two, would tackle Westerners’ interest in Eastern spirituality in its third excursion.

The teaser sees stars Jason Isaacs, Walton Goggins, Carrie Coon, Leslie Bibb, Michelle Monaghan, Patrick Schwarzenegger and others taking part in both parties and “stress-management meditations” at what is believed to be another White Lotus resort in Thailand. “Everyone runs from pain to pleasure,” says a Buddhist monk in the trailer. “But they only get there to find more pain.”

Natasha Rothwell, a fan favorite from the first season, returns as hapless aspiring masseuse Belinda in Thailand on an exchange program – “I’m starting to feel like something good is coming out of this,” she says. There is also a shot of a body bag – suggesting that, as in the first two seasons, no one will return from the luxury hotel alive.

White had previously teased the show’s third season, which he also wrote and directed, as a potential exploration of death and fascination with Eastern spirituality, possibly in keeping with Belinda’s interest in wellness. “The first season highlighted money, and the second season is sex,” he said in an HBO clip for the season 2 finale. “I think maybe the third season would be a satirical and funny look at death and Eastern religion and spirituality.”

HBO partnered with the Tourism Authority of Thailand to support production and promotion of the third season, which was filmed this spring at the Four Seasons Resort Koh Samui as well as locations in Phuket and Bangkok. Lalisa Manobal, the rapper known mononymously as Lisa and the only Thai member of the K-pop group Blackpink, will make her acting debut as a White Lotus employee—and, at least as suggested by the trailer, holiday dancer—in the third season.

The White Lotus has been a critical success and awards show since it debuted as a limited series in 2021. The first season garnered 20 Emmy nominations and 10 wins, including Best Limited Series. The second, which aired in 2022, garnered 23 nominations and won five, including one for Best Casting and Best Dramatic Actress for fan favorite Jennifer Coolidge, the only cast member between the two seasons.

The third season premieres on HBO on February 16.