We’ve got THE new romantic comedy that will hit like a thunderclap this summer. You already loved Girls, which revealed the sexy Adam Driver? Good news, it’s to Queen Lena Dunham we owe Too Much, a little gem of a series set to release on July 10 on Netflix. This offbeat romance cleverly mixes American triviality and British cynicism: a bold and sometimes complex marriage, just like the two protagonists who try to merge their whirlwind love story the best they can. Tu Dum!
London Calling
Her ex just proposed to his new sweetheart Wendy (Emily Ratajkowski) – a total bombshell with no flaws – and nothing’s going right at work: in short, breakdown alert for Jessica (Megan Stalter), a bubbly American dreaming of a fresh start and a love story à la Jane Austen. Naturally reasonable, she straight-up leaves her native America for London and very quickly meets Félix (William Sharpe): her Darcy, her Rochester, in short, her new love interest, a mysterious and tormented musician. The two get tangled in a slightly unstable situationship, stemming from each of their traumas and further shaping our heroine’s already full new life.
A Bridget Jones new gen’ Netflix-style
London, a woman in search of a new breath in her life, a carefree artist man... If this classic (but winning) recipe of clichéd romantic comedies might discourage you, don’t turn back. Deeply inspired by her personal life, Lena Dunham shows in 10 episodes that, to live Love with a capital L, you have to overcome challenges together – but also, and especially, the ones we sometimes create ourselves. And it’s quite successful: we sometimes identify with Jessica, a Bridget Jones at heart and portrait of a (not so) magnificent loser. At times clumsy but always endearing, she will remind cinephiles of the post-mumblecore era (a niche film genre usually dealing with relationships between people in their twenties or thirties) of Greta Gerwig (cf. Frances Ha).
Too Much checks the usual boxes of the genre, sure. But the series manages to stand out through its sharp writing, delightful dialogues, and the absurd tone of some joyful and hilarious episodes. One especially comes to mind: the dinner at Jessica’s boss’s house, with none other than the great Naomi Watts (Mulholland Drive), though we found every cameo funny. And there are quite a few! From Lena Dunham herself as a depressed sister, Andrew Scott (the hot priest from Fleabag) as a weird producer, to our national Adèle Exarchopoulos as the unbearable French girl, and the sexy Emrata, the cast proves particularly appealing. Verdict? By blending her humorous tone with deeper subjects, the series becomes as cozy as it is profound: Jessica is too much in just the right way, and her darling Félix earns our empathy despite his glaring red flags. The ending may feel a bit rushed and simplistic, but isn’t love sometimes just that?
Too Much, available on Netflix
and still...
There are some series that make noise even before their release: the charming Sirens, new miniseries coming out this Thursday, May 22 on Netflix, is no exception. One must say that, in addition to being produced by the studio of Margot Robbie, it is Julianne Moore who holds the main role, and with her, we even find our darling Kevin Bacon in a supporting role! Zoom on this series between social thriller and comedy, with a cast that makes your mouth water and that definitely makes you want to press play.
Succumb to the songs of Sirens
No one is necessarily good or bad in this series, but every choice during the short weekend where it takes place has drastic consequences… Shall we make you the portrait of the characters? The magnetic Michaela (Julianne Moore) is married to the millionaire Patrick Kell (Kevin Bacon). She, overwhelmed by her millions and her schedule, hires Simone DeWitt as home assistant. This little golden cocoon is disrupted from one day to the next when the big sister of Simone, who sacrificed everything to take care of their sick father in Buffalo, bursts in unexpectedly to force her younger sister to come back home. It is the culture shock: the elder no longer recognizes this real-life Barbie become slave of the high bourgeoisie.
A White Lotus in Netflix sauce
In only 5 episodes and under its pink-candy comedy look, this gem much more tricky than it looks turns out to be a mischievous satire of the ultra-rich, of women facing power and of their relationships to the world around them. Simone (Milly Alcock, the princess Targaryen from House of the Dragon), who clings to her Freudian relationship with her boss (Julianne Moore, sublime as a cold and mysterious boss), delights in this unheard-of luxury. The two actresses radiate charm and excel as apathetic women ready for anything to maintain their situations.
But it is maybe Devon, played by Meghann Fahy (The White Lotus) who, as an incurable hot mess in this so codified world, proves to be without doubt the chicest of the three women. The family ties of the sisters, eroded by their shared traumas and their opposite life choices, question their respective moralities.
And if the male characters seem secondary and powerless facing these charismas with enchanting power, their role is in fact absolutely central. There is finally in this dark comedy something quite tragic in these destinies of women who face their lives or who decide to flee them, leaving a bitter taste after the viewing. A short and striking series, to binge-watch in a weekend!
Sirens, on Netflix May 22, 2025.