Too Much
Though Lena Dunham has long been a polarising figure – namely due to her seemingly endless stream of public confessions during her 2010s notoriety – she is an undeniable wordsmith. This is none more apparent than in Too Much, which might just be her best comedic offering since Girls. Created by Dunham and her husband, Luis Felber, it stars Megan Stalter as Jessica, a producer whose beloved boyfriend leaves her for an influencer/lipgloss entrepreneur (Emily Ratajkowski).
The Brooklynite is afforded a fresh start via a work opportunity in London. Having grown up watching Merchant Ivory period dramas and idolising Princess Diana, the earnestly quixotic Jessica is eager to assimilate into British culture (there’s a particularly amusing moment in the first episode in which she thinks that Hoxton estate is a sprawling country manor). She meets pretty boy musician Felix (Will Sharpe), who might just be her Mr Darcy, her Mr Rochester, her Alan Rickman (to paraphrase Jessica, ever the Anglophilic romantic).
It’s a likeable Millennial take on the fish-out-of-water trope, littered with Dunham’s famous idiosyncratic witticisms. Tonally, it has the familiar sardonic humour of Girls: there’s Jessica’s grandmother (a hilariously foul-mouthed Rhea Perlman) graphically describing her attraction to her granddaughter’s ex; there’s Felix listing all the things he loves about America, including Cap’n Crunch and Oxycontin. And Jessica’s monologue about wanting to encapsulate the definitive female experience recalls Girls’ most iconic line: “I think I might be the voice of my generation. Or, at least, a voice of a generation.”
In true Dunham style, it’s a semi-autobiographical tale. The writer is herself a New Yorker who moved to London for work, only to find love with Felber and eventually call the city her home. Stalter and Sharpe are charming leads, their romance as sweet as it is scabrous. The supporting actors are similarly talented, including Richard E Grant as Stalter’s well-meaning, albeit try-hard, boss. Though some of the writing is a tad too heavy on the TikTok vernacular and Dunham appears at times desperate to prove her specialised knowledge of British pop culture lore (such as name-dropping George Michael’s Snappy Snaps collision); it’s a minor blot on an otherwise electric script.
The characters are enjoyable company, and it’s quirky without veering into soppy, twee territory. Consistently funny, wonderfully acted and genuinely touching, too much of a good thing is never good – unless it’s Too Much.
Antonia Georgiou
Too Much is released on Netflix on 10th July 2025.
Watch the trailer for Too Much here:
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