'Too Much' review: Lena Dunham Netflix series shows her evolution from 'Girls,' putting her mark on a rom-com

Yahoo

11-07-2025

In Lena Dunham's highly-anticipated return to TV with Too Much on Netflix, she's putting her stamp on a blend of classic rom-com tropes, with a lot of emotional baggage. Starring Hacks breakout star Megan Stalter, alongside Will Sharpe, Michael Zegen, Janicza Bravo, Rhea Perlman, Rita Wilson, Emily Ratajkowski and Dunham herself, there's a lot to love about this new show.
A semi-autobiographical show inspired by Dunham's move from New York to London, where she met her now husband, Luis Felber, it's easy to make connections to what we know about Dunham's personal life. But you can also see the evolution of her voice as a TV creator, writer and director.
Too Much release date: July 10 on NetflixCreators: Lena Dunham and Luis FelberDirector: Lena DunhamCast: Megan Stalter, Will Sharpe, Michael Zegan, Janicza Bravo, Richard E. Grant, Leo Reich, Daisy Bevan, Adele Exarchopoulos, Dean-Charles Chapman, Rita Wilson, Naomi Watts, Prasanna Puwanarajah, Andrew Rannells, Rhea Perlman, Emily Ratajkowski, Stephen Fry, Kaori Momoi, Adwoa AboahNumber of episodes: 10
In Too Much we follow Jessica "Jess" (Megan Stalter), a New Yorker in her 30s dealing with the aftermath of a harsh breakup with her boyfriend Zev (Michael Zegen), who went on to date popular influencer Wendy (Emily Ratajkowski). She's now living with her grandmother Dottie (Rhea Perlman), her mother Lois (Rita Wilson), sister Nora (Lena Dunham), along with Nora's 13-year-old son.
Jess works for Nora's estranged husband Jameson (Andrew Rannells), who recommends her for a job in London to be a producer for a Christmas ad, and Jess takes the plunge to make the move to England.
On her first night in London she goes to a pub where she sees musician Felix (Will Sharpe) perform. They hit it off quite quickly with flirtatious banter, but Jess questions her own judgement in men, particularly after what happened with Zev.
Felix is also a series of red flags. Doesn't have a job, aside from playing whatever gigs he can get with his band, he's also struggled with commitment in previous relationships. But there's still something beautiful about their connection as they both work through traumas from their pasts, while getting closer as a couple.
In Jess's case, that includes making private social media posts, speaking Wendy, as a way to channel all her emotions from her previous relationship.
Girls premiered in 2012 and saw both significant praise and criticism for its execution of a story about New York millennial women, but Too Much is a reminder of how unique Dunham's voice is in the TV and film landscape.
There's just something endearing about the way that Dunham writes stories and crafts characters, leaning into the messiness and insecurities in their lives in a way that at times certainly works for a laugh, but always feels authentic, and is almost scarily relatable.
The experience of trying to find your place, figuring out what you want in life, getting the confidence to put yourself out there to succeeded, and trying to avoid the inevitable mistakes along the way is absolutely addressed in other shows and movies, but the way it's tackled in Too Much just feels special to Dunham.
This definitely isn't Girls, and likely won't have the same pop culture impact, at least with just this season, but you can absolutely identify when it's Dunham who's crafted a story. She has a uniquely singular voice and it feels so good to watch a project like that.
Stalter has the exact leading woman presence you crave, with the skills to tackle the swings from outrageous comedy, to incredible awkwardness, to tearjerker emotional moments.
The series really feels like it locks in once we get to dive deeper into the pasts of both Jess and Felix, and for Sharpe, he's able to move through all the complex details of Felix's life. And it's a tall order, because there's a lot of trauma Felix is holding on to.
Of course, with such a strong supporting cast, you just want to see more of them than the show has the real estate for. There could be a show that's just about Jess, her grandmother, mother and sister. And that does leave you with a feeling of wanting more from a show that sometimes feels like we're rushing to the finish line.
It's certainly a largely predictable show, you quickly understand where much of it is going, but it's worth sticking around through the 10 episodes.
If there's one thing you can count on Dunham to do for a project inspired by her own life is to bring an honesty to her characters, with some of the best dialogue you could imagine in the context, and a perfectly placed song in the background, and that's what comes through in Too Much.