I Love LA

Matt Roush says...

Has HBO tapped into the zeitgeist again? Whether you love or hate, or love to hate, I Love LA, from creator-star Rachel Sennott (Bottoms, Shiva Baby), may depend on your interest in and appreciation for the influencer culture inhabited by this friend group of self-absorbed, often self-sabotaging twentysomethings. Positioned as a West Coast equivalent to Lena Dunham’s more deeply felt Girls, this funky and often raunchy comedy stars Sennott as the hungrily ambitious Maia, toiling as an assistant in a marketing and management firm (Leighton Meester is delicious as her above-it-all boss) when her life is turned upside down by the return of her more successful — online, anyway — friend Tallulah (Odessa A’zion), whose TikTok profile makes her a catch for Maia’s company but whose unstable personality ignites an influencer war. Josh Hutcherson costars as Maia’s comparatively normal boyfriend, with the friend group including True Whitaker as a Hollywood nepo baby and Jordan Firstman (the mercurial boyfriend on English Teacher) as a toxically gossipy stylist.

What's Worth Watching (Nov 1)