Review of “Euphoria” Season 3: Luxurious and Weak Pieces

Following the success of the first two seasons, Euphoria Season 3 officially returns with a setting five years after the events of the previous season. The series marks a significant maturation of the characters in terms of age, appearance, and psychology, while shifting from teen drama to exploring the breakdowns and crises of adulthood.

Like the previous two seasons, Season 3 continues to generate mixed opinions due to director Sam Levinson’s extreme aesthetic style. Despite the controversy, the series is still highly praised for its ability to reflect a glamorous but empty and unstable modern world.

 

Content: Ambitious, Disjointed, but Rich in Meaning

In the new season, Rue Bennett is now 22 years old and is drawn into a cross-border drug trafficking ring to pay off a huge debt for Laurie. She becomes a drug courier and gradually falls into a spiral of violence, crime, and mental crisis.

Unlike the previous two seasons, Season 3 expands into the themes of religion and faith. Rue begins searching for meaning in life through conversations with Ali and her journey through addiction. However, the series doesn’t view religion as a miraculous salvation, but rather as a fragile refuge for lost souls.

The setting also shifts dramatically, moving away from the familiar school environment into harsher, Neo-Western landscapes. The characters must fend for themselves to survive in a nearly lawless world.

The biggest drawback lies in its overly ambitious structure. The series simultaneously explores:

• Drugs
• Religion
• Prostitution
• Hollywood
• Real Estate
• Social Media Culture
• The Corruption of the Attention Economy

This sometimes makes the storyline feel disjointed, more like a collection of films than a unified narrative.

Characters: Everyone Is Breaking Down

Zendaya as Rue Bennett

Zendaya continues to be the soul of the series. Her restrained yet powerful performance portrays Rue as someone who is both trying to save herself and completely lost.

The character searches for faith to fill the void after her father’s death and her breakup with Jules, but the more she clings, the deeper her despair becomes.

Sydney Sweeney as Cassie Howard

Cassie Howard becomes an icon of the “attention economy.” She sinks into OnlyFans and TikTok in exchange for money and recognition from others.

The series shows how social media transforms people into commodities of an algorithm, where self-worth is measured by views and interactions.

Jacob Elordi as Nate Jacobs

Nate Jacobs remains the embodiment of toxic masculinity, but now a more rotten and insecure version. He has to shoulder his family’s debt and tries to control Cassie as a way to cling to his last shred of power.

Alexa Demie as Maddy Perez

Maddy Perez enters the world of media and PR in Los Angeles. The tense relationship between her and Cassie continues to be one of the most noteworthy emotional storylines of the season.

Meanwhile, Jules appears less frequently but undergoes a shocking transformation as a “sugar baby” in high society.

Visuals and Music: Luxurious but Cold

Season 3 continues to maintain the brand’s signature visual style, but with significant changes in tone and cinematography.

Cinematographer Marcell Rév uses 65mm and 35mm film to create a classic cinematic feel. Desert sunlight replaces the urban neon lights of previous seasons, making everything more raw and harsh.

The music also changes significantly with the involvement of Hans Zimmer. The classical Western-influenced orchestral music somewhat replaces Labrinth’s previous Pop/R&B tones, creating a more solitary and heavy atmosphere for the work.

In Summary

Euphoria Season 3 is an ambitious, beautiful, yet chaotic work. The series expands on scale and themes more strongly than the first two seasons, while delving into the disillusionment of adulthood in modern society.

Despite some controversial points and structural inconsistencies, Season 3 remains an emotionally rich and haunting experience of people struggling to survive in a glamorous but rotten world.