Too Much

I can see the Netflix boardroom conversation now: "Hey, remember how well last year's series One Day did? People loved that cute guy from The White Lotus-Leo Woodall. Let's grab another cute guy from The White Lotus-Will Sharpe this time-pair him with a quirky but relatable girl, drop them in London, throw in some hipster melancholy and emotional turbulence, and voilà! We've got our next streaming hit."

That's more or less what Too Much feels like.

The ingredients are all there: an acclaimed indie darling (Lena Dunham), a cool urban setting, plenty of yearning, offbeat dialogue, and a cast that looks great in soft lighting. But while One Day built genuine emotional weight over time, Too Much often feels like it's trying to reverse-engineer the same success rather than create something fresh.

Will Sharpe does his best with what he's given-he has a quiet magnetism that keeps things watchable-but the writing never quite gives his character the space or depth he deserves. The same goes for the lead female role, which vacillates between charming and frustrating without ever landing with much emotional impact.

There are nice moments. A few scenes have a rawness that feels honest, and the London backdrop is used well. But overall, it's a show that feels like it was made by checking boxes. It's not terrible-but it's trying too hard to be something we've already seen.

The main character jokes around and makes looks so much that it's not even believable as a real person. Even when she's supposed to be heartbroken it is a farce. Cringy. I'd like some character with substance. No one in the world acts the way these characters do but the main character more so than others. No substance at all just one "joke" after the other.

Overall, a good storyline and premise but there are so many unfortunate issues with everything.

1. The way the lead female has been written as an insufferable, overly dramatic, whiny "quirky" girl is frustrating to say the least. It unfortunately leans into so many damaging stereotypes of women.

2. Costumes for lead female - what were they thinking?? Not justice for her at all.

3. Generally not the lived experience of "chubby" girls. I hate that it insinuates this is the lived experience of a confident woman who feels sexy and pulls men instantly. This is NOT the experience for 99% of larger women, and it's ridiculous to suggest so. I am so glad there is space for stories like this, where larger women get the man & enjoy sex and are confident in themselves. But I think this is overdone and almost offensive.

4. The script. Just frustrating and annoying. Tries too hard to be whimsical, quirky and candid but again, comes across as trying to hard and it's so obvious.

I didn't research any of the actors/producers/writers/creators before watching. Not too long into the first episode, I immediately clocked Lena Dunham's touch. If you've seen Dunham's "Girls" (HBO) you will get immediate Hannah energy from the main character. From what I've seen so far, a lot of the situations Jessica herself into are very similar to Hannah from Girls. BUT, it does not have quite the same wit and bite as the dialogue in Girls. Girls felt messier without TRYING to be. Jessica is just a tinge over the top to where it's borderline unbelievable that anyone is friends with her or wants to be with her. Lena's previous characters, like Hannah Horvath, were more fleshed out. They are trying TOO HARD to make Jessica a "mess".

There are some really beautiful scenes in the show, but there's also lot of other things that get in the way of the good parts. For example, there are way too many musical "filler" scenes, sex scenes, main character being intentionally awkward and whiny scenes. When she's not acting like a child, she's outstanding, but most of the time, she's a little annoying. Thankfully, the rest of the characters are interesting and give exactly what they are supposed to for their parts. Overall, I like the show, just wish it weren't so chaotic, but maybe that's the point of it all. Obviously she feels out of control of her life and everything that happens to her is a reflection of that.