Too Much review: new Lena Dunham series is a soppy, sweet love letter to London ★★★★

Will Sharpe as Felix in 'Too Much', out on Netflix on 10 July. (Ana Blumenkron/Netflix)Ana Blumenkron/Netflix

But, in keeping with the romcom trope Dunham knowingly employs, Felix is perfectly imperfect; despite his mottled past and commitment issues, he’s adorable, sweetly attentive to Jess’s rat-like dog Astrid, and astoundingly patient with our protagonist’s frequent emotional outbursts á la Hannah Horvath, Lena Dunham’s character in Girls. Sometimes unbelievably so.

It is for this reason that Too Much is a surprising return to TV for Dunham. Her singular voice as a writer lends the show a familiar warmth and neuroticism, but it’s otherwise an entirely new sort of narrative for her, much soppier than the groundbreakingly realistic Girls. Setting the story in her new hometown, London – far away from her former stomping ground of New York – seems to have given Dunham’s style a refresh, the kind that accompanies a drastic change of scenery.

But London isn’t the only inspiration for the series; Dunham's move to the UK also led to finding true love with British musician Luis Felber. More than a fish-out-of-water story about a guileless American abroad, Too Much is really about a single love story: cue the montage of Jess and Felix making out in the street at night; having sex in the bathroom and on the kitchen floor; meeting each other's coworkers and friends; fighting over Felix’s friendship with his ex; Felix bringing Jess flowers at the hospital; Jess rushing through traffic to win him back after a rupture.

Meg Stalter and Will Sharpe as Jess and Felix in new Lena Dunham series 'Too Much.' (Photo: Ana Blumenkron/Netflix)Ana Blumenkron/Netflix

My instinct, when watching a romcom, is to cringe at the excess of sentimentality. While there were certainly a few such moments in Too Much, they were tempered by even more moments of awkwardness and insecurity, the kind that invariably appear in real-life romances, and which viewers have come to expect in Dunham’s storytelling. That Too Much makes room for both sorts of moments is what gives it a sense of realism despite its adherence to the romcom structure.

Like all the best comedies, Too Much is in turns goofy and heartbreaking, though some episodes – like the one which flashes back to Jessica’s past relationship, showing its depressing evolution from love to disdain – don’t really include any opportunities for laughs at all.

At its core, the show is about how grief can be transformed by love, a process conveyed with extraordinary gentleness by both Stalter and Sharpe, whose chemistry and depth breathe life into the series.

Meg Stalter and Lena Dunham play sisters Jessica and Nora in new series 'Too Much', created by Dunham. (Photo: Ana Blumenkron/Netflix)[Missing Credit]

Oh, and it has Dunham’s Jewish fingerprints all over it, not least because episode one reveals Jessica to be Jewish through her brash single mother (Rita Wilson) and grandmother (Rhea Perlman), who lament their choices to marry gentiles. Dunham herself makes an appearance as Jessica’s miserable, recently divorced older sister Nora in this family of loud-mouthed, squabbling Jewish women. It made me feel right at home.

With startling cameos from the likes of Kit Harrington, Andrew Scott, Stephen Fry and Naomi Watts, Too Much is proof of the enduring chokehold Dunham has on contemporary culture; it seems just about every actor on this side of the Atlantic wanted a part in her latest venture.

Who could blame them?

Too Much is available on Netflix from 10 July.