An Expat Rom-Com with Jagged Edges: Lena Dunham’s ‘Too Much’ Arrives on Netflix

The latest television project from Lena Dunham, creator of the era-defining series Girls, is a 10-episode romantic comedy titled Too Much. The series, now available on Netflix, stars Megan Stalter of Hacks and Will Sharpe from The White Lotus as its central couple. The narrative is positioned as an ex-pat rom-com for the disillusioned, exploring whether true love is still possible for those who sincerely hope it is, even amidst the complexities of modern life. The production brings together Dunham’s distinct authorial voice with the producers of celebrated British romantic comedies like Love Actually and Notting Hill, a partnership that signals the show’s specific creative direction. This collaboration establishes a framework that both embraces and deconstructs the genre. The series aims to deliver the joy associated with classic romance while simultaneously exploring life’s harsher realities. This duality is immediately evident in the characterization of its male lead, Felix, who is described as being less like the charming hero of Notting Hill and more akin to Hugh Grant’s drunken roommate.

A New Yorker’s Messy London Chapter

The series centers on Jessica, a New York workaholic in her mid-thirties who finds herself reeling and increasingly isolated after the collapse of a relationship she believed would last forever. With every block of her home city serving as a painful reminder of her past behavior, she sees only one solution: accepting a job in London. Her intention is not to pursue a new romance but to escape, planning to live a life of solitude she romanticizes as being like a Brontë sister. Her plans are quickly upended when she meets Felix, a local musician who is described as a walking series of red flags. Portrayed as a punk elf who acts eternally 18, Felix is the antithesis of the idealized romantic hero. Despite their apparent incompatibility and the numerous problems their dynamic creates, they form an unusual and undeniable connection that proves impossible for either of them to ignore. Their relationship becomes the story’s central conflict, forcing them to confront their personal baggage and a significant cultural divide. The series poses the fundamental question of whether Americans and Brits, despite a shared tongue, actually speak the same language.

Too Much

The Creative Minds and Personal Inspirations

Too Much is a creative partnership between Lena Dunham and her husband, the British-Peruvian musician Luis Felber. They co-created the series, with Dunham serving as the primary writer and director for the ten-episode run, and Felber composing the original music and acting as an executive music producer. The show’s premise is loosely inspired by Dunham’s own life experiences, particularly her move to London in 2021, where she met and subsequently married Felber. While Dunham has downplayed the autobiographical elements, saying the series is only about 5 percent based on her life, it directly draws from her perspective as an American expat navigating the realities of London versus the fantasies she held about it. A key thematic inspiration for the series was Dunham’s observation of the significant baggage individuals can bring into a new relationship. The show is a deliberate exploration of romance in one’s thirties, a period when, unlike in one’s twenties, individuals carry the complexities of their past experiences and relationships. The production is a joint effort between Working Title Television, the company behind many formative romantic comedies, and Dunham’s own Good Thing Going banner, with Universal International Studios also involved.

Introducing the Flawed but Compelling Leads

Megan Stalter portrays the protagonist, Jessica. The character is a garrulous New Yorker from an intensely co-dependent Jewish family, described as emotional, dramatic, and someone who consistently wears her heart on her sleeve. A defining trait is her tendency to be labeled “too much,” a person who smashes her ex-boyfriend’s window and jokes that her superhero power would be eroding boundaries. This role is a significant step for Stalter, known for her scene-stealing performance as the chaotic assistant Kayla in Hacks, and marks her first lead in a major series. The casting of Stalter, a proudly queer performer, in the role of a straight romantic lead adds a layer of nuance to the show’s exploration of being an outsider, extending the theme to resonate with anyone who has ever been told they are “too much” in a world that often asks women to be less.

Opposite Stalter is Will Sharpe as Felix. At 35, Felix is a British-Japanese indie musician who acts eternally 18 and is running from an unnamed trauma. He is depicted as a grungy, repressed, rollie-smoking individual who sleeps until noon and has a history of destructive behavior. Born in the U.K. but raised between English boarding schools and his extended family in Japan, he feels he belongs in neither place, with music serving as his only real consolation. The character is now sober and attempting to find balance after a nomadic upbringing and a cycle of addiction. Sharpe is an accomplished actor, writer, and director, recognized for his role as the awkward tech entrepreneur Ethan in the second season of The White Lotus and his BAFTA-winning work in Giri/Haji. The character of Felix was intentionally made half-Japanese after Sharpe was cast, a decision that merges the actor’s own background with the role. Sharpe has spoken about how his own mixed-race heritage gave him the perspective of an outsider, which directly informs his portrayal of a character who feels perpetually displaced.

A Star-Studded Supporting Ensemble

The series features an extensive and high-profile supporting cast. Jessica’s family and New York past are populated by a number of notable actors. Rhea Perlman plays Dottie, Jessica’s outspoken grandmother who believes her family’s single status is the result of dating non-Jewish men. Rita Wilson portrays Lois, Jessica’s mother, a former 70s wild child who keeps her emotions suppressed. Lena Dunham appears as Nora, Jessica’s older, divorced sister, while Andrew Rannells plays Jameson, Nora’s ex-husband who left her after discovering polyamory. The catalyst for Jessica’s move, her ex-boyfriend Zev, is played by Michael Zegen, and Zev’s new model girlfriend, Wendy Jones, whom Jessica obsessively stalks online, is played by Emily Ratajkowski.

Upon arriving in London, Jessica’s world expands to include a new set of complex characters. Richard E. Grant plays Jonno, her new boss who runs a high-end advertising firm from the 80s. Naomi Watts is cast as Ann, Jonno’s miserable wife who eventually forms a bond with Jessica over their shared feelings of not fitting in. Felix’s parents are portrayed by Japanese screen legend Kaori Momoi as his passionately invested mother, Aiko, and Stephen Fry as his detached, business-like father, Simon. The ensemble also includes Janicza Bravo and British comedian Leo Reich as Jessica’s co-workers. Further underscoring the project’s profile is a remarkable roster of guest stars, including Andrew Scott, Jennifer Saunders, Kit Harington, Rita Ora, and Jessica Alba. The cast is rounded out by Adwoa Aboah, Adele Exarchopoulos, Daisy Bevan, Dean-Charles Chapman, and Prasanna Puwanarajah.

Deconstructing Romance: Baggage, Culture, and Modern Love

Too Much functions as a thematic evolution of Dunham’s previous work. Where Girls chronicled the messy, formative years of women in their twenties, this new series advances the timeline by a decade to examine love and life for thirty-somethings. These characters are not starting with a clean slate; they are navigating new relationships while carrying the full weight of past failures, personal trauma, and complex histories. The result is a series that is described as warmer and more focused on the pursuit of love than its predecessor, yet equally honest about the difficulties involved. The show uses the “American in London” trope to stage a nuanced cultural dialogue. The Anglo-American clash is explored beyond surface-level comedic misunderstandings about Jaffa Cakes or housing estates; it serves as a central dramatic engine, contrasting Jessica’s American emotional expressiveness with Felix’s British repression. This dynamic creates a space to investigate deeper questions about communication, vulnerability, and the different social cues that govern emotional life in each culture.

The show’s title is itself a central theme, unpacked as a commentary on the societal tendency to label women who are expressive, emotional, or have significant needs and desires as being “too much.” This label is presented as a common method of diminishing women, and the series appears to reclaim it, suggesting that being “too much” might be precisely what is required to navigate the world authentically. By grounding these larger conversations in a personal, cross-cultural love story, Too Much uses its specific narrative to explore universal themes of communication, disillusionment, and the search for connection.

All ten 30-minute episodes of the single-camera romantic comedy are produced by Working Title Television and Good Thing Going and are available for streaming.

The series was released on Netflix on July 10, 2025.