We all need to break from tradition from time to time, especially when the occasion calls for one to do something different. While I normally focus on reviewing film, sometimes another project comes around that is so special, it impels me to put pen to paper and write about it, especially if there is something particularly profound about it. When it comes to The White Lotus, it’s difficult to not be absolutely beguiled by this series, a work of absolutely brilliant satire that serves as one of the year’s most captivating projects. This isn’t so much a miniseries as it is six hours of impeccable filmmaking – and it’s hardly surprising that every episode of this fascinating show was written and directed by Mike White, an artist who may have a relatively small output on both sides of the camera, but who remains one of the most captivating voices in contemporary independent cinema. He has often brought these sensibilities to the small screen, which reached its peak with The White Lotus, an artistically-resonant, hilarious irreverent tale of greed and corruption, all set to the gorgeous, tropical vistas of Hawaii. While it may be divided into various episodes, it’s always helpful to view this as a single entity, a six-week-long journey that eventually concluded this past week, where many viewers were shocked and bewildered by the choices White made in ending what was essentially one of the most original pieces of television to come out in quite some time. I cannot sing the praises for The White Lotus loud enough, especially since there aren’t many shows that manage to be as gripping and engrossing as this one – and deconstructing its various layers, its not difficult to see exactly why this was such a triumph, a strange and disquieting voyage into a tropical landscape that hides many unsettling secrets, all of which we are desperate to uncover over the course of this ambitious project.

The White Lotus takes the form of the traditional upstairs-downstairs story, whereby it focuses on a single location (in this case, the titular hotel and spa known for its upmarket clientele), and follows a variety of characters on both sides of the resort, looking at the high-society guests who make the idyllic landscape their temporary homes, and the long-term employees that are tasked with waiting on them, hand and foot. It’s a common trope, and serves as the foundation for the series – but White is much too intelligent an artist to only restrict it to this very formulaic structure, and instead of depending on what we already have encountered in previous works that follow similar approaches, he uses the style as the entry-point for a wildly funny, but incredibly dark, exploration of society, as filtered through the lens of a group of characters drawn together for a small amount of time, but who would go onto influence each other unexpectedly, and not always in the most positive way. Categorizing The White Lotus under a genre is difficult, because it samples from so many different styles – it’s primarily a satire, having the darkly comical nuances that make for some hauntingly direct commentary on society. However, there’s a darkness to the series that prevents it from being all that lighthearted – a kind of bleak, harrowing nihilism that makes us wonder whether we should be laughing as much as we are, or retreating from the foreboding sense of danger that only increases as each episode passes, and we see how extremely disturbing the content at the heart of the show actually is. White has a gift for capturing the most disconcerting aspects of the human condition and presenting them in a way that is meaningful, but not always particularly comforting, which is one of the primary elements of The White Lotus that makes it such an absolute triumph of both form and content.

White has a very interesting way of using tension as a narrative tool, creating an atmosphere of disquieting terror. Regardless of the setting being in a tropical paradise, there’s a discomfort to the series that not only never abates, but becomes more intense as we venture deep into this world. White isn’t ever afraid to make us uncomfortable, using awkwardness as a powerful tool to immerse us in this world. Every character in The White Lotus is despicable in some way – they define rich, spoiled high-society brats that couldn’t care less about the people responsible for taking care of them – and the show builds on this dynamic in a way that is both hilarious and extremely disconcerting. White has never been afraid to make us ill at ease, with some of his previous projects being masterful works of agonizing discomfiture. White doesn’t only write an uncompromisingly tense and unsettling story, he strings together various components that all go into making this such an unforgettable experience – the design of the series itself is worth the time, with every component of the show reflecting immense dedication, from the production design to the original score (Cristobal Tapia de Veer’s music for the series is bound to become one of the all-time great scores for television, with the opening credits being etched into the memory of the viewer in a way that is both delightful and haunting). The White Lotus is a masterclass in pulling together various narrative and visual strands and allowing them to overlap in such a way that it inspires both delight and despair, which is not a sensation many stories are able to inspire in its audience, let alone simultaneously, being yet another reason why The White Lotus is so special.

However, as strong as White’s work as the writer and director of all six episodes may be, The White Lotus is designed as a character-based story, and therefore the success of the project really hinged on the actors. This is a true ensemble effort – not only is there a purposeful lack of a singular perspective through which we traverse this world, every actor in the show is doing some of their best work, as well as a few newcomers and more obscure performers turning in solid portrayals as well. Choosing a standout is almost impossible, since every member of both the primary and supporting cast are absolutely incredible – Murray Bartlett oscillates between charming and despicable as the frenzied hotel manager who just aims to please, while Connie Britton and Steve Zahn define the idea of the mediocre elite, the people who prove that having enormous amounts of money doesn’t mean you have much elegance or intelligence. Jake Lacy and Alexandra Daddario (who make a strong case for themselves as being amongst the most promising young actors working today) are fantastic as the newlyweds who realize their marriage may not be as harmonious as they imagined, the latter in particular being the closest this series has to a protagonist, but sheer virtue of the fact that she’s so likeable, and ultimately the person who stands to lose the most if this descent into carnivalesque madness continues. However, the anchor of the series comes from the most unexpected source, the delightful Jennifer Coolidge, who leaves behind her broadly comedic persona and instead takes on a more dramatic role as the depressed woman venturing to this resort as a way of overcoming her loneliness and resolving the past. Regardless of who each individual viewer picks as the standout, The White Lotus is a great example of shifting perspectives and overlapping character development, which only makes it all the more enticing and unique.

There’s a complexity to The White Lotus that is difficult to describe – White has consistently pushed boundaries in his career, which has led him to become something of a patron saint of contemporary independent cinema. This feels like the natural convergence of all of his previous ideas – darkly comical situations drawn from his own experiences (his time as a contestant on the reality programme Survivor certainly seems to have informed this show in some way), a wide range of eccentric characters that are simultaneously deranged in their delusions, and quintessentially human, and a provocative, biting approach to storytelling that leads us to reconsider our own opinions. While we may watch these shows to be entertained, any piece of media that puts the audience in the position of having our opinion challenged, is going to be worth the time. The show becomes increasingly dark, and it shows very little interest in actively sticking to the status quo, which gives it this very maniacal tone that White captures very well and exploits to the advantage of the story, and its numerous themes that send us into a spiral of paranoia, anger and oddly exhilarating joy, which doesn’t come as a result of the humorous moments embedded in this film, but instead through the laissez-faire approach to abandoning all hope, and just realizing how demented the world actually is. The White Lotus defines the literal concept of “trouble in paradise”, and through absolutely exquisite filmmaking, writing that is bound to become one of the most extraordinary examples of mounting tensions, and a wide range of captivating performances, we’re thrown into this chaotic, grotesque world – and with every attempt to escape, we find ourselves voyaging deeper into the unhinged madness that inspired this hauntingly strange and exceptionally unsettling satire that is well-aware of its intentions to disturb and provoke.