Lena Dunham’s new show Too Much unabashedly opens the door to the beauty and pain of metamorphosis in the face of heartbreak, writer Leah Commandeur reflects.
Too Much is not just one thing, and trying to whittle it down to this would be unfair to Netflix’s newest mini-series. If a show starts with vignettes of dreamstate Jane Austen-esque London, turning quickly to a Les Misérables affair before awakening to the reality of the modern day city to Fergie’s “London Bridge”, you know you’re getting yourself in for a wild ride. Even more so if you pair this with the fact the story is yet another gift from the mind of Lena Dunham, who brought us one of the most beloved cult TV shows in recent history, 2012’s Girls.
This comedy that’s epicentre is kept alive with the raw reality human connection could be described as a coming-of-age of sorts for its protagonist, Jess (Meg Stalter), who moves her life from New York to London after her relationship with Zev (Michael Zegen) comes crashing down, taking the life she knew down with it. After all, finding out that your partner who you thought you would marry is having an affair with a beautiful, successful influencer would throw most people into a tailspin – especially if said mistress, Wendy Jones, is played by the beautiful and talented Emily Ratajkowski. Ouch.
For Jess, London is her chance to reinvent herself, or perhaps re-find herself. She’s got plans of a lavish estate in Hoxton and a sexy new job as a producer in the city that is a safe distance away from the people who tore her down. What could go wrong? Everything. She quickly learns that Americans and British may speak the same language, but more often than not there’s things lost in translation. Like that an estate in the UK, is far from the manor she was picturing and instead a maze of brutalist flats from the 70s.
To throw more chaos into the mix, she meets Felix (Will Sharpe), the frontman of an indie band that also features real life rockstar Carlos O’Connell from real life band, Fontaines D.C. Rugged, charmingly British and the complete opposite to her dull ex, Felix catches her attention. Their chance encounter soon sets off the start of another romance for Jess, simultaneously aiding the re-discovery of her true self that she had to bury over the years with her ex.
Co-created by Dunham and her husband, Luis Felber, the duo say that the show is loosely inspired by their own story. Felber, a British musician who performs under the name Attawalpa, met Dunham in 2021 on a blind date in London, not too long after Dunham had moved overseas from New York like Jess. Now married, with two dogs and two cats, they are not only obviously obsessed with one another, but work just as well together professionally, having also collaborated on Catherine Called Birdy (2022) and Sharp Stick (2022).
In the 10 episode series nothing goes smoothly. The boss at Jess’ new job is weird and beyond morally grey, which is hard to comprehend as he is played by Richard E. Grant. Felix’s ex-wealthy family are even odder. At one point Jess accidentally sets one of her many Victorian style nightgowns on fire when she records one of the hundreds of videos addressed to Wendy Jones in her interesting take on a video diary. Jess and Felix are perfectly imperfect together as they try to figure their own lives out to make room for one as a unit. The reality a far cry from the Pride and Prejudice tale she had hoped for herself, but a tale with many of its components nonetheless.
The stacked cast only continues to build as the show rolls out, with cameos from Andrew Scott, Naomi Watts, Adèle Exarchopoulos, Rita Wilson, Rhea Perlman, Stephen Fry and more. Andrew Rannells also re-enters the Dunham universe since playing Elijah in Girls, this time stepping into the shoes of the husband of Jess’ older sister Nora (Dunham).
However, the spotlight remains on Stalter and Sharpe, who form intoxicating on-screen partners in crime. Stalter flexes her range with ease, flaunting her gold-star comedic abilities witnessed with her role as Kayla in Hacks (since 2021), and Sharpe slips into this likeable and layered character as he did in his role as Ethan in season 2 of The White Lotus (since 2021), this time showing off his musical abilities too.Together they merge seamlessly in a burning ball of passion and mayhem that you cannot help but be enraptured by. It’s an ugly and painful, earnest and romantic projection of metamorphosis of healing one chapter of your life so you can tempt the idea of the next. Full of jagged edges and misspoken thoughts, Too Much is just the perfect amount.
Too Much is now available on Netflix.
Words – Leah Commandeur
