The White Lotus; 26.2 to Life

“On the evidence of the first few episodes, it seems that the third series may have moved even further from the original’s MO. But the precision of the storytelling and the realisation of every character, from the most central to the most peripheral, remains masterly. Exquisitely shot, scripted, paced and performed, it’s a sumptuous feast for all the senses.”
Lucy Mangan, The Guardian

“Mike White’s writing and characterisation is so sharp and delicious that his drama firing on three cylinders is still better than many others firing on all four. While this is slow to get going there is, as ever, much delectable toxicity to feast upon, albeit with less humour than usual.”
Carol Midgley, Times

“There is no murder in the first episode of White Lotus, as before, but other than that this third season is very much more of the same. Mainly, this is a good thing. The cast is sensational and the locations equally so. Throwing a snaggle of vacuous American tourists into a Disneyland of self-actualisation, complete with a bevy of treatment sessions where they can find their centre – and realise that they don’t have one – is a constant joy. It is wickedly funny throughout, a delicious, caustic bin fire of the vanities.”
Benji Wilson, The Telegraph

“For all its glossy production values, exotic locations and big-name cast list, The White Lotus sticks to a successful formula. It’s beautifully photographed, like a travel brochure for billionaires, but writer and director Mike White knows what we expect of him, and he delivers.”
Christopher Stevens, Daily Mail

“There are points where you feel 26.2 to Life has a moral duty to push harder, that it is in danger of letting the uplifting narrative (the power of sport to unite men, the Corinthian spirit finding its way into the prison yard) exert too strong a pull. But in the main, it stays clear-eyed and crosses the finish line in fine form.”
Lucy Mangan, The Guardian

“26.2 to Life: Inside the San Quentin Prison Marathon captured the freedom-imprisonment paradox well as it followed the redemptive stories of several men as they jogged 105 laps around the crowded prison yard, often around 90-degree angled corners, sometimes with geese in the way. Which sounds worse even than running around the Isle of Dogs.”
James Jackson, The Times