‘I Love LA’ assessment: Rachel Sennott’s comedy is an influencer-focused snicker riot

After I consider Los Angeles, I consider Rachel Sennott.

Whereas the comic acquired her begin in New York, she grew to become inextricably linked to L.A. in my thoughts because of her 2019 video parody of trailers for films set in L.A. The mixture of Sennott’s manic spinning, her one-liners about medication and consuming issues, and the thumping beats of Azealia Banks’ “212” make for a hyper-specific pop cultural send-up (see: the trailer for The Bling Ring), one I am prone to quoting each time somebody mentions L.A. The video additionally granted viewers a style of Sennott’s inventive voice, which she has since fine-tuned in bigger scale initiatives like Our bodies Our bodies Our bodies and Bottoms. It appears fated, then, that Sennott would return to L.A. in her first outing as a collection creator, for HBO’s I Love LA.

At first look, I Love LA seems to channel the identical vitality as the flicks Sennott parodied in 2019. The trailer guarantees glamorous home events, movie star cameos, and even a girl smoking cocaine. (Sure, a thumping techno soundtrack can also be concerned.) Nevertheless it’s been six years since Sennott first declared, “What? It is L.A.!” and now she has extra to say, together with extra space during which to say it. Due to that, I Love LA proves a hilarious dive into the obsessions and insecurities that come from attempting to have all of it, all advised by way of the eyes of a delightfully messy new TV buddy group.

What’s I Love LA about?

The middle of that buddy group is Maia (Sennott), an assistant at a PR agency who hopes to maneuver up within the ranks after years of profession stagnancy. Her two besties within the metropolis are Charlie (Jordan Firstman), a blunt, unfiltered movie star stylist, and Alani (True Whitaker), the daughter of a celebrated director who toggles between completely oblivious and deeply emotionally clever.

A wild card disrupts the group within the type of Tallulah (Odessa A’zion), Maia’s closest buddy from school. The pair have been initially meant to maneuver from New York to L.A. collectively, however Tallulah selected to remain behind. Now, she’s an influencer It Lady on the verge of taking her fame to the subsequent degree, whereas Maia simply feels caught.

Tallulah’s shock arrival in L.A. reminds Maia of her personal shortcomings, and her early interactions with Tallulah mirror that. The 2 sling subtly disguised barbs at each other and prepare dinner up lies designed to make themselves see cooler than they’re. It is all wrapped up within the candy-coated guise of friendship, however the cracks do shine by way of, and Sennott and A’zion could have you wincing at each backhanded praise.

Regardless of the stress from years aside, Maia and Tallulah notice they have been placing up partitions and projecting their very own insecurities onto their friendship. They determine that the one means they’ll actually make it’s collectively: Tallulah as expertise and Maia as her supervisor. So begins a wild journey into the ups and downs of influencer stardom.

I Love LA is a pointy look into what it takes to be an influencer.

Rachel Sennott and Odessa A’zion in “I Love LA.”
Credit score: Kenny Laubbacher / HBO

On condition that content material creators at the moment are a key a part of the leisure panorama, I Love LA provides a glimpse on the less-than-glamorous machinations behind the aspirational photos influencers might curate in your feeds. Model offers, expertise groups, disaster administration… these are simply the tip of the iceberg of what I Love LA has to supply, with Sennott heightening every component of the creator financial system for laughs. A scene of Tallulah filming a TikTok with real-life creator Quenlin Blackwell proves particularly uproarious and biting, because the present’s model of Blackwell calls for a Kubrick-ian ranges of takes for peak authenticity.

Nonetheless, I Love LA‘s tackle web tradition hardly ever feels pandering. Past a photoshoot or two, we by no means really see the sort of content material Tallulah makes. The selection signifies that I Love LA would not must observe tendencies that would already really feel outdated between manufacturing and the present’s launch. As an alternative, it depends on A’zion’s efficiency to promote the thought of “Tallulah as influencer,” and it really works. A’zion bursts with the sort of unfiltered charisma and self-assuredness that marks the net It Women of at this time, with Sennott’s usually frazzled, tightly wound work as Maia serving as the proper counterpoint.

I Love LA options an awesome TV buddy group and ensemble.

Jordan Firstman, True Whitaker, Odessa A’zion, and Rachel Sennott in “I Love LA.”
Credit score: Kenny Laubbacher / HBO

Along with Sennott and A’zion, Firstman and Whitaker do wonderful work as Charlie and Alani. The central quartet as a complete has impeccable chemistry, meshing properly with out sacrificing every character’s individuality. I can see individuals claiming a personality within the buddy group now, in the way in which that they do for different HBO heavy-hitters like Intercourse and the Metropolis and Women.

Early buzz across the present has led to Women comparisons, and that definitely rings true all through. There is a related frank messiness to the buddy group, and the characters are sometimes simply as self-centered, to the purpose that I can already think about individuals bemoaning I Love LA‘s “unlikeable” characters. (Are they really unlikeable, although? Or are they simply uncomfortably relatable in a means that forces you to look at one thing about your self?)

The enjoyable would not cease with I Love LA‘s core buddy group. Leighton Meester is deliciously obnoxious as Maia’s boss Alyssa, whereas Josh Hutcherson offers a grounding stability as Maia’s boyfriend Dylan. The 2 additionally come to symbolize the 2 poles of Maia’s life: Alyssa echoes her ambition and the general glamor of the L.A. hustle, whereas Dylan provides a break from the relentless chaos of Maia’s profession. I Love LA by no means demonizes Maia for wanting a rewarding job, however it definitely questions how this job (and the insanity of L.A. as a complete) are impacting her connections with others.

Introspective with out being preachy, and satirical with out being exclusionary of non-L.A. aficionados, I Love LA‘s first season is one other sturdy entry in 2025’s crop of zillennial sitcoms, which additionally consists of the likes of Overcompensating and Adults. For Sennott followers and newcomers alike, I Love LA has the makings of your subsequent comedy obsession.

I Love LA premieres Nov. 2 at 10:30 p.m. ET on HBO and HBO Max.