Here’s What The White Lotus Season 3 Trailer Reveals About What’s To Come

Soundtracked by Carabao’s ‘Made in Thailand’, the trailer for The White Lotus season 3 has finally dropped – and we’re ready to analyse every second. Just like season 1’s Hawaii and season 2’s Sicily, we can expect a sun-soaked setting filled with wealthy guests donning glamorous outfits traversing a suspenseful plot – this time in Thailand. Here’s exactly what the trailer hints about what’s to come when the series finally returns in February 2024. But first, let’s give it a watch…

Hints & Clues In The White Lotus Season 3 Trailer

Dom Hetrakul & Natasha Rothwell in The White Lotus season 3. (HBO)

Natasha Rothwell Is Back – On An Exchange Programme

Natasha Rothwell has been attached to The White Lotus season 3 ever since rumours started spiralling. First appearing in The White Lotus season 1 in Hawaii – and befriending Jennifer Coolidge’s character Tanya – Rothwell portrays Belinda, an empathetic spa manager and practitioner, and the new trailer finally reveals the part she will be playing in season 3. As expected, Rothwell will be returning to the role of Belinda ‘on an exchange programme,’ she says in the trailer – meaning she’s on secondment from her permanent role in Hawaii. In her wellness journey, she will be joined by Sritala (Lek Patravadi), one of the hotel’s owners and the visionary behind its wellness programme, and Mook (Lalisa Manobal), one of the hotel’s health mentors.

‘I’m starting to feel like something good’s going to come out of this.’ So are we.

Lalisa Manobal & Tayme Thapthimthong in The White Lotus season 3. (HBO)

Megastar Lisa Strips Back Signature K-Pop Glam

…And reveals her forehead, unsettling fans who are used to her characteristic block fringe. ‘Sawasdee ka,’ Lisa says at the beginning of the trailer, revealing herself as a member of staff at the White Lotus’ Thailand hotel. ‘Welcome to the White Lotus in Thailand ka!’ In fact, Lisa (or Lalisa Manobal, as she is credited in The White Lotus) plays Mook, one of the hotel’s ‘health mentors’, which we assume will be connected to the spa and the White Lotus Thailand’s overarching wellness regime. Later in the trailer, however, she reappears in an opulent headdress – so there may well be more to this character than we are being told.

Walton Goggins & Aimee Lou Wood in The White Lotus season 3. (HBO)

Aimee Lou Wood Is The Younger Woman

Aimee Lou Wood and Walton Goggins’ characters are one of the couples staying at the White Lotus. ‘Stress management meditation… Yeah, you need this,’ Chelsea (Woods) tells Rick (Goggins), reading from the hotel brochure. Officially described as ‘a rugged man with a chip on his shoulder’, the screen switches to Rick puffing relievedly on a cigarette – so it seems the Fallout star is playing a stressed-out character, too.

It also seems he’s opposed to high-price wellness. ‘Gluten free rice and coconut balls?’ he reads from the menu. ‘What are we, at a fucking fat farm?’ Chelsea’s reaction to his comment – a surprised balk – hints she’s not totally used to his brazenness. Is this a throwback to season 1, when the honeymoon of shotgun newlyweds Rachel (Alexandra Daddario) and Shane (Jake Lacy) went awry? Perhaps. What we do know is that this isn’t a honeymoon, and the duo are boyfriend and girlfriend – at least in the first episode.

Jason Isaacs, Parker Posey, Patrick Schwarzenegger, Sarah Catherine Hook & Sam Nivola in The White Lotus season 3. (HBO)

The Ratliffs Are Season 3’s Complicated Family

In season 1 it was the Mossbachers, in season 2 it was the Di Grassos, and in The White Lotus season 3, the Ratliff family are on the designated awkward family holiday. Victoria (Parker Posey) and her wealthy businessman husband Timothy Ratliff (Jason Isaacs) visit the White Lotus Thailand with their three children – who we’re sure don’t see eye to eye. Eldest child Saxton (Patrick Schwarzenegger) works for his father’s successful company and is seen in the trailer dancing shirtless with someone. Meanwhile middle-child Piper (Sarah Catherine Hook) is a religion studies college senior student and youngest son Lochlan (Sam Nivola) is in his final year of high school. The latter gets the family’s largest spotlight in the trailer. ‘If everybody gives into their base instincts,’ Lochlan says, ‘it’d be total depravity. Like a race to the bottom.’ Intriguing…

Carrie Coon, Michelle Monaghan & Leslie Bibb in The White Lotus season 3. (HBO)

Hedonism & Spirituality Rule The Day

‘Everyone runs from pain towards pleasure,’ a Thai Buddhist monk says in the trailer. ‘But they get there only to find more pain.’ This snippet points at director, writer and creator Mike White’s comments on the focus of the season: ‘a satirical and funny look at death and Eastern religion and spirituality.’ Clips of Jaclyn (Michelle Monaghan) dancing in a club add to this – overlaid with Kate (Leslie Bibb) and Laurie (Carrie Coon) gossiping about her (or someone) dancing provocatively. ‘She literally lives off male attention,’ Laurie says to Kate between mouthfuls of breakfast. ‘It’s pathetic.’

Lek Patravadi in The White Lotus season 3. (HBO)

Another Murder?

If Chekhov’s gun is anything to go by, a character will be shot and killed in The White Lotus season 3 – and subsequent episodes will retrace the events that led up to their death. This aligns with the trend set by the first two seasons: in season 1, hotel manager Armond (Murray Bartlett) is accidentally killed by archnemesis hotel guest Shane, while in season 2 Tanya tragically falls to her death from Quentin’s (Tom Hollander) yacht after shooting him and his friends dead, fearing they were plotting to kill her.

In The White Lotus season 3 trailer, we see guns, what looks like an armed robbery (another throwback to season 1), someone jumping into the sea from a boat, and plenty more clues that tragedy is on the horizon. ‘I almost died today,’ Chelsea declares one evening at dinner. ‘But we got the room comped, didn’t we, babe? So that was cool.’

‘Yeah, you did a great job, babe,’ Rick replies. So can we assume this wealthy couple is the victim of the robbery, mirroring Mark (Steve Zahn) and Nicole’s (Connie Britton) plight in season 1? Will it be another inside job? And is it connected to the body bag we see in the trailer? Only time will tell…

Morgana O’Reilly, Arnas Fedaravičius, Christian Friedel, Dom Hetrakul & Lalisa Manobal in The White Lotus season 3. (HBO)

The White Lotus Season 3 Character Descriptions

Here’s the full cast list for The White Lotus season 3, plus the roles the characters will play in the action.

• Leslie Bibb as Kate, one of three long-time friends on a girls’ trip after not having seen each other for a while
• Carrie Coon as Laurie, on a girls’ trip with Kate and Jaclyn
• Michelle Monaghan as Jaclyn, on a girls’ trip with Kate and Laurie
• Walton Goggins as Rick Hatchett, a rugged man with a chip on his shoulder, travelling with his girlfriend Chelsea
• Aimee Lou Wood as Chelsea, a free-spirit travelling with her on-edge older boyfriend Rick
• Jason Isaacs as Timothy Ratliff, a wealthy businessman vacationing with his wife and three children
• Parker Posey as Victoria Ratliff, Timothy’s wife, vacationing with her husband and three children
• Sarah Catherine Hook as Piper Ratliff, a college senior and religion studies major, and middle child to Timothy and Victoria Ratliff
• Sam Nivola as Lochlan Ratliff, Timothy and Victoria Ratliff’s youngest child, a high school senior
• Patrick Schwarzenegger as Saxon Ratliff, the eldest son of Timothy and Victoria Ratliff, who works for his father’s successful company
• Lalisa Manobal as Mook, one of the health mentors for guests staying at The White Lotus
• Lek Patravadi as Sritala, one of the owners of The White Lotus Thailand and the visionary behind its wellness program
• Natasha Rothwell as Belinda, spa manager on an exchange programme from The White Lotus in Hawaii
• Tayme Thapthimthong as Gaitok, a security guard at the White Lotus Thailand
• Dom Hertakul, another member of the White Lotus spa staff who works with Belinda
• Christian Friedel, another member of the White Lotus staff

The White Lotus Season 3 Release Date

The White Lotus season 3 will begin on Monday 17 February 2025 in the UK after premiering on Sunday 16 February in the US. Episodes will air weekly on Sky in the UK and HBO in the US, and will be available to stream on Now and Max respectively.