The White Lotus. Written and directed by Mike White

Reviewed by August Cosentino

White privilege comes in for a major shellacking in “The White Lotus,” Mike White’s savagely funny, perceptive six-episode series (HBO Max) about guests at a posh hotel on Maui (filmed at the Four Seasons Maui, a former client of mine. Dear God.)

These guests initially seem nice—and to some of you, constant reader, perhaps a bit familiar. For starters, there’s Shane (Jack Lacy), the smug Upper East Side real-estate preppie who wears Lily Pulitzer slacks, a Cornell baseball cap, and a smirk that makes you want to punch his lights out. He’s honeymooning with Rachel (

Alexandria Daddario), a beautiful but meek woman he’s known for about a year. Rachel, an aspiring journalist, is uneasy with the idea of becoming Shane’s trophy wife. Shane’s mother Kitty (Molly Shannon, looking as dressed up as I’ve ever seen her) shows up at the hotel, managing to make matters worse by crashing their honeymoon.

Then there’s the Mossbacher family from San Francisco. Nicole (Connie Britton), the CEO of an Internet search firm, is accompanied by her beta husband Mark (Steve Zahn); her bratty daughter-from-hell Olivia (Sydney Sweeney); the daughter’s BF Paula (the exotic Brittany O’Grady) and their son Quinn (Fred Hechinger) who’s addicted to his phone—and the porn he watches on it.

The final guest of significance is the tragic Tanya (Jennifer Coolidge—from “American Pie!”), a puffy, fifty-something alki who’s come to Hawaii to scatter her mother’s ashes to sea.

This motley crew—along with their trials and tribulations— are the responsibility of Armand  (Murray Bartlett from “Tales of the City 2”), the gay hotel manager with a history of substance abuse; and Belinda (Natasha Rothwell) who runs the spa and acts as an unofficial shrink to several of the guests. Lordy lord, they’re not paying Belinda enough for what she does.

Like many shows we’ve been watching of late, what keeps the series moving, besides the brilliant dialogue and multiple scenarios, is a death at the hotel. You see a coffin being loaded on a plane at the beginning of Episode 1. From then on you (and millions of other HBO Max viewers) are wondering who gets done in, something you won’t find out until Episode 6. Although there are numerous clues that point in different directions.

Similar to shows like “Downton Abbey” and “Upstairs/Downstairs,” TWL offers you a look at both the masters and the servants. It’s clear where Mike White’s sympathies lie.

Gorgeous scenics (including fabulous underwater photography), TWL is titillating entertainment from start to finish. And now that I know whodunnit, I can sleep easier. As for the rest of you uninitiated, you’ve got some catching up to do. Enjoy.