Latest news with #Girls
Time of India
8 minutes ago
- Entertainment
- Time of India
Is Andrew Scott's role in Too Much based on Anora director Sean Baker? Fans points to Letterboxd rants, sex worker film parallels
Lena Dunham's new Netflix series Too Much, which premiered on July 11, is exactly the rom-com we needed this summer. Starring Megan Stalter and Will Sharpe, the show dives into loneliness, connection, and all the awkwardness in between. While Dunham has said the story is only 'five percent' based on her real life, fans aren't so sure, especially after noticing one character in particular. Andrew Scott plays Felix, a brooding indie director known for making films about sex workers and marginalised communities and for leaving the occasional dramatic review on Letterboxd. It didn't take long for viewers on Reddit to draw comparisons to Anora filmmaker Sean Baker, and the internet's been piecing it together ever since. What is Too Much about? Too Much follows Jessica (Megan Stalter), a recently heartbroken New Yorker who impulsively moves to London in search of something different. That 'something' turns out to be Felix (Andrew Scott), a politically intense, emotionally elusive director who challenges and complicates her fresh start. The show is Dunham's first since Girls and blends personal messiness with sharp, often uncomfortable cultural observations. The Reddit post that started the theory In a post on the pop culture subreddit Fauxmoi, one user pointed out that Felix's character bears a strong resemblance to Sean Baker's public and creative persona. 'Baker has made 5 movies about women who engage in sex work (and is reportedly making a sixth),' they wrote. 'Every leading woman in his films plays a character who is a sex worker or engages in sex work.' They also noted that nearly all of his eight films focus on people living in poverty. Adding to the comparison was Baker's infamous one-star review of his own film The Florida Project on Letterboxd, an unusual move sparked by criticism over its final scene being shot on an iPhone, not film, as the rest of the movie had been marketed. 'We've all met guys like this' Too Much began filming months before Anora premiered, so the character may not exactly be based on Baker, but many viewers believe the connection holds up, or at least that Scott's character taps into a recognisable type. One user wrote, 'I think it's more taking aim at the type of man Sean Baker is—those 'film bros' are a dime a dozen, perpetually stuck in the mental space of their first philosophy and film theory classes.' Another added, 'It may not be Baker directly, but if you've been in entertainment long enough, you know a guy like this.' More about Too Much The series is loosely inspired by Lena Dunham's own life, especially her move to London following her breakup with musician Jack Antonoff. While she's described the series as emotionally honest but largely fictional, some viewers think there may be more real-life parallels than she's letting on. One popular theory is that Emily Ratajkowski's character, Wendy Jones, draws inspiration from Lorde, who Jack was rumoured to have been romantically linked to around the time of his split with Dunham. Of course, that's all speculation. As for Felix, whether he's a direct nod to Sean Baker or just a familiar type in the world of indie filmmaking, Too Much has already become a Netflix sensation.
Wall Street Journal
8 minutes ago
- Entertainment
- Wall Street Journal
Lena Dunham Gives Us Millennials On the Verge of a Midlife Crisis
When Lena Dunham's hit show 'Girls' premiered in 2012, the #MeToo movement hadn't happened. There wasn't yet a more 'nuanced attitude about what is and isn't safe sexually,' said the director, who was 25 when the show premiered. Her era-defining show portrayed women in their 20s in cringey sexual encounters, often bizarre and uncomfortable rather than romantic and consensual. Eight years after the series ended, Dunham's new Netflix show, 'Too Much,' reflects a more gentle sensibility for women on-screen and a new outlook for the director famous for her cynical depictions of relationships. Now 39, married and sober, her characters have, in a way, grown up with her.
The Guardian
4 hours ago
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
The Girls Who Grew Big by Leila Mottley review – teenage mothers and melodrama
Writers sometimes talk of giving birth to their books, but probably very few are also working as doulas. It's an experience that clearly informs Leila Mottley's new novel, The Girls Who Grew Big, in which the struggles of pregnancy and motherhood loom large. Mottley's work as a doula comes in addition to writing a bestselling debut novel, Nightcrawling, and featuring on Oprah's Book Club; she was also youth poet laureate of Oakland, California, in 2018. But not much seems beyond the reach of the youngest ever writer to be longlisted for the Booker prize, back in 2022. The pity is that her considerable energy hasn't translated into a more satisfying second book. The Girls Who Grew Big tells the story of a gang of teenage mothers and the impromptu community they form in the humid disarray and general dysfunction of Padua, a fictional small town in the Florida panhandle. Led by their de facto leader, Simone, the Girls are a scrappy, ostracised handful of outsiders, variously rejected by their families and harshly judged by locals. Down on their luck and often abandoned by the adults in their lives, they resourcefully become a collective, based in the back of Simone's truck. At 20, Simone is the eldest, the mother of five-year-old twins Lion and Luck. When she finds herself unhappily pregnant again, she turns to the Girls for help. Among them is 17-year-old Emory, whose white family are appalled by her black boyfriend. She comes to the Girls when struggling to breastfeed her baby boy, Kai, and finds practical advice, sisterhood and support. Then new girl Adela washes up in town: a champion swimmer with college ambitions, exiled from her former life by an unplanned pregnancy and sent to stay with her grandmother for nine months. Emory is immediately infatuated, and soon the Girls find their community disrupted. Those are the bones of the book, and there's clearly something potent here: the raw lives of teenage mothers, the fierce bonds forged in adversity, the alarmingly unequal access to good-quality maternity care in contemporary America. And yet The Girls Who Grew Big ultimately lands awkwardly, emerging as a mawkish paean to motherhood. This is a well-meant novel about decent things – sisterhood and solidarity – but its sentiment is never more sophisticated than this, and the writing too often sinks into the syrupy. Nightcrawling, Mottley's novel about an impoverished teenage sex worker in Oakland who ends up at the centre of a police corruption case, was a startling debut: miraculously lucid, politically pointed and tenderly wrought. But in The Girls Who Grew Big, when Mottley reaches for gritty realism, she often gives us something that feels gratuitous instead. Sign up to Inside Saturday The only way to get a look behind the scenes of the Saturday magazine. Sign up to get the inside story from our top writers as well as all the must-read articles and columns, delivered to your inbox every weekend. after newsletter promotion The novel opens, for instance, with Simone chewing through not one but two umbilical cords as she gives birth to twins in the back of her boyfriend's truck. It's certainly striking, but it also reads like an unnecessary provocation. Simone reasons that her teeth are preferable to her boyfriend's dirty pocket knife, 'crusted in dried brown blood, shed fur from some long-dead animal, and Lord knows how many fishes' yellowed intestines', as Mottley seems intent on challenging the reader from the first. Later, calling in a favour, Simone reminds Emory that she 'sucked on her nipple just last week to get a clogged duct to flow again'. Birth is messy and women's bodies are unruly: Mottley insists we confront this. Her prose relishes the blood and milk, straight talk sometimes curdling into something more callow and needlessly graphic. Setting the novel in Florida allows Mottley dramatic licence and she makes the most of it. She has a hurricane hit Padua, and the Girls flee from it in their wildly veering vehicle. A storm fells a tree, which inconveniently closes the local Planned Parenthood clinic. An alligator turns up at Emory's high school like a bad omen. An orca beaches itself as if summoned by the novel's own need for symbolism and the Girls duly scramble to save it. Drama is Mottley's preferred mode, and the set pieces – a cat fight between Adela and Simone; a tense reveal between Adela and her new boyfriend – feel melodramatic rather than real. But the Mottley of Nightcrawling is here too, writing with poetic clarity in fleeting moments. She is excellent at capturing the mysterious quality of this neglected patch of Florida: its close, salty air, its turquoise waters and its white sands. She is believable on passion. When Emory gazes at Adela, she feels 'a crazed swirl at the bowl of [her] body', and she longs 'to know everything about her, even when she only gave me fractions'. But too often The Girls Who Grew Big feels overly ambitious, a virtuous rhapsody, determined to say something transcendent about young motherhood but stuck peddling folksy wisdom instead. The Girls Who Grew Big by Leila Mottley is published by Fig Tree (£16.99). To support the Guardian buy a copy at Delivery charges may apply.
Daily Mirror
7 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Mirror
Last of Us star's 'exquisite' period film everyone is watching
Lena Dunham's period film Catherine Called Birdy is taking the world by storm, with viewers flocking to watch the comedy as the budding actor takes centre stage The historical film is brimming with recognisable faces, but at the centre of it all is emerging British actor Bella Ramsey before they became a household name in the hit series The Last Of Us. Catherine Called Birdy is a 2022 comedy flick, inspired by a 1994 novel and directed by Lena Dunham. After creating the renowned HBO show Girls and featuring in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, the filmmaker returned to the director's chair to craft this amusing coming-of-age story that viewers can't seem to get enough of. Birdy, as Catherine is affectionately known, is a young girl of 14, living in the English countryside during the 13th century with her father, Lord Rollo, and their family. When the family coffers take a hit, Rollo decides the best solution is to arrange a marriage for his daughter Birdy. In her characteristic mischievous style, Birdy does everything in her power to fend off potential suitors in an attempt to resist growing up and maintain her independence. Through a series of bizarre antics, she continues to ward off suitors, and through her diary entries, she documents the lessons learned along the way. A review on Rotten Tomatoes reads: "Bella Ramsey delivers a standout performance in Catherine Called Birdy, effortlessly bringing to life the rebellious, witty, and fiercely independent Birdy. With a magnetic screen presence, Ramsey captures the spirit of a young girl pushing back against medieval societal norms with sharp humour and modern sensibility, all while staying grounded in the emotional weight of her circumstances. Another captivated viewer shared: "Brilliant. Excellent dialogue. Engaging. Performances were top-notch", reports the Express. Meanwhile, another described the film as both "exquisite" and "flawless". Taking on the role of Birdy's father is none other than Andrew Scott, renowned for his role in BBC's Fleabag, whilst her mother is portrayed by British TV icon Billie Piper. Adding to the star-studded cast are Joe Alwyn and Paul Kaye, alongside Harry Potter's David Bradley. The film introduced many fans to Bella Ramsey for the first time, following their appearance in Netflix's Hilda, but before their rise to stardom in The Last of Us alongside Hollywood heartthrob Pedro Pascal. However, the filming in Shropshire back in 2021 was a world away from the red carpets they would soon be gracing. Viewers have been quick to laud the performance of the rising star, writing: "Consistently funny and with great performances throughout. The dialogue and pacing are great - not a dull moment!" Lena Dunham, known for her sharp wit, has channelled her comedic prowess into another venture, a Netflix project titled Too Much. This series, while retaining the humour of Catherine Called Birdy and featuring a female lead, delves into the experiences of an American navigating life in London. For those craving Dunham's endearing character development and Ramsey's powerful performance, Catherine Called Birdy is currently available for streaming on Amazon Prime.
Elle
20 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Elle
The 'Too Much' Soundtrack Is Amazing—Here's Every Song
If Lena Dunham's Girls was the millennial confessional that made us all cringe and cry in equal measure, then her latest offering, the Netflix's Too Much, is the rom-com that promises to make you feel everything—and text your therapist). While the 10-episode series features bold outfits and a lovable cast, one of its underrated highlights is its accompanying soundtrack. (It sure helps that Dunham's musician husband Luis Felber co-created the show.) It's a whip-smart, era-defying selection of music that blends Richard Curtis nostalgia with the indie sleaze revival. Here's a track-by-track, episode-by-episode rundown of the music of Too Much.
