With the trailer for her upcoming action caper Die in a Gunfight having released only recently, True Detective vet and pants-optional actress Alexandra Daddario is doubling down on the promos with a sunny and strange first look at her upcoming HBO dramedy The White Lotus, which features a truly stellar ensemble cast. From Connie Britton to Steve Zahn to Molly Shannon to Jake Lacy, the talent isn't lacking in The White Lotus, so give the trailer above a watch-through to see this stunning resort vacation increasingly become a dumpster fire.
While there isn't anything in The White Lotus trailer that truly takes things over the edge, there's definitely an undercurrent of discomfort woven into things, with Murray Bartlett's resort manager Armond being the ringleader for all of that discomfort. In contrast to Alexandra Daddario and The Office vet Jake Lacy's early onset happiness as relatively new bride and groom Rachel and Shane, Armond is coming off of a life-altering trauma, and it looks like he's going to become completely unraveled as the season goes on. Not that Rachel and Shane's relationship looks extremely ironclad.
In fact, I'd already put money on the couple not making it through the end of The White Lotus' six-episode season, thanks largely to the arrival of Shane's mother Kitty, played with nerve-grinding perfection by SNL vet Molly Shannon. Of all the places one would wish for a demanding mother to show up, a Hawaiian vacation has to be at the bottom of the list, right around "colonoscopy." This is indeed the only proper reaction to have if one doesn't want to be rude by screaming "GET THE HELL OUT!" loud enough to cause volcanoes to erupt:
And who doesn't want to watch a married couple played by a demanding Connie Britton and a self-deprecating Steve Zahn, as joined by their introverted son (Fred Hechinger), their acerbic daughter (Sydney Sweeney) and her equally sardonic friend (Brittany O'Grady)? Or to watch Jennifer Coolidge get a massage and strike up a friendship (and maybe more) with the resort's spa manager (Natasha Rothwell)? Okay, that second one might not be on everyone's to-do list, since it's rather particular, but you can be sure Coolidge will draw more than a few laughs from it as a woman using her wealth to try and recover from her mother's death.
It should be interesting to see just how bright and happy The White Lotus is when things kick off, since audiences can be sure that only emotional turmoil and madness will be present by the time the six-episode season draws to a close. I'm guessing this first trailer is only tapping the surface of the dark places show creator Mike White (Enlightened) will take things. Will Molly Shannon's character be the only one who comes out of this thing unscathed? We'll just have to watch (through our fingers) to find out.
Of all the upcoming Alexandria Daddario projects on the way, The White Lotus may very well be the most unique standout, and not only because Steve Zahn's balls get some of the glory. Be sure to check it out when the show debuts on HBO on Sunday, January 11, at 9:00 p.m. ET.
