Sophie Gilbert

2 weeks ago | theatlantic.com | Sophie Gilbert

This article contains spoilers through the Season 3 finale of The White Lotus. The guests at White Lotus resorts arrive and leave by boat, a fact I’ve come to believe has some kind of mythological significance. These guests are never simply going on vacation. Rather, they’re entering some kind of magical-realist hinterland where they’re tormented by different iterations of fate, pride, vanity, and greed, a ritualistic evisceration accompanied by pool drinks and a spectacular breakfast buffet.

2 weeks ago | flipboard.com | Sophie Gilbert

'The White Lotus' Season 3's Sam Nivola explains why Lochlan didn't clean out the blenderThat makes more sense. The White Lotus Season 3 finale dealt out plenty of death, but there was one character who got very lucky to escape it: Lochalan (Sam Nivola), who almost died from poison fruit seeds after he failed to clean out the blender that Timothy had nearly used to murder his family the …

2 weeks ago | theatlantic.com | Sophie Gilbert

After a few months of shivering through Severance’s blank white corridors and icy exterior shots, I’ve appreciated the sultry visual texture of The White Lotus’s third season: the vivid prints of high-end resort wear; the ominous blue of the ocean; the verdant setting (as wild and seething as anything manicured into luxury-hotel perfection can be). The show is thrilling as a sensory experience, humming with sinister percussive beats and the occasional muffled animal squawk in the distance.

2 weeks ago | flipboard.com | Sophie Gilbert

How public key cryptography really works, using only simple mathThe security system that underlies the internet makes use of a curious fact: You can broadcast part of your encryption to make your information much …

1 month ago | theatlantic.com | Sophie Gilbert

This article contains spoilers through the finale of Severance Season 2. The world of Severance is so unfailingly cold, so sterile, that the seventh episode of Season 2, “Chikhai Bardo,” came as a palpable shock. Flashback scenes detailing the love story and marriage of Gemma (Dichen Lachman) and Mark (Adam Scott) were stylistically totally different; they featured dappled natural light and ambient noise, and were shot on film—a production choice that gave both characters a grainy, imperfect aura.