Review of Lena Dunham's new Netflix romcom

In the second episode of Too Much, Jessica – the character loosely based on series creator Lena Dunham – upbraids a date for describing her as ‘messy’, arguing that it’s an inherently misogynistic term that would never be applied to a man.

Excuse me, then, as I rush to the thesaurus to find alternative adjectives for this chaotic, needy, highly-strung character. She has a weird, hairless dog she insists on dressing up, and at one point breaks into her ex’s house while he’s sleeping and creepily stands over him and his new partner (Emily Ratajkowski).  When Jessica Alba – THE Jessica Alba, the first of many celebrities-as-themselves cameos – gives her a career opportunity, she falls to pieces.

Yet for all her odd behaviour, of which there’s plenty, the non-Alba Jessica remains a sympathetic character. In huge part that’s down to an excellent Meg Stalter, who’s barely off screen and is compellingly watchable for every moment, and the rest to Dunham herself. As with Girls, her knack is to use an emotional authenticity to make everything seem realistic, even as incidents get exaggerated to the point of ridiculousness, then play them out with snappy, knowing dialogue.

After the aforementioned incidents in New York, Jessica takes an opportunity to head to London and start a new life, her head full of period dramas. When she hears ‘estate’ she imagines Pemberley, not the inner-city complex she actually ends up living in, a rather laboured joke, but one that sums up the culture shock. And in that flat it doesn’t take long until she sets fire to herself. But no, not messy.

On the surface, Too Much takes its cue from the same sort of premise as Richard Curtis, but with an edge that’s both grittier and more Gen Z. The Brit the American inevitably falls for – and on her first day in the UK to boot – is indie pub musician Felix (Will Sharpe, from The White Lotus and quirky Channel 4 comedy Flowers), echoing Dunham’s real-life romance with muso Luis Felber, co-creator of this ten-part series.

In London, Jessica works with an achingly trendy content creation company under the stewardship of Jonno (Richard E Grant, being, delightfully, 100 per cent Richard E Grant) and alongside Boss (Leo Reich, very much the same ragingly self-centred character as his stand-up alter-ego) and the similarly narcissistic Kim (Janicza Bravo) and Josie (Daisy Bevan), who are often more irritating than funny.

Jessica  is a mass of contradictions – full of smartly witty lines but wavering between being too unconfident to speak in a team meeting to telling that date who called her ‘messy’ just what’s what. The developing romance with the laid-back Felix is driven by a balance of lust and trying to maintain an emotional distance, lest they get hurt, with quirky incidents every step of the way. 

The coolly distant Felix, of privileged background but now slumming it, is clearly a bit broken too, with the trope of ‘I can fix you’ running both ways.  

Like the course of true love,  Too Much doesn’t run smooth, and some scenes frustrate as others delight, but the story is strong enough, with enough unpredictable turns, for you to want to know how it works out for these two oddballs, with all their personality flaws/quirks writ large.

•  Too Much is on Netflix now.

Review date: 10 Jul 2025
Reviewed by: Steve Bennett