I will be honest with you – as a committed pessimist, pseudo-incest was not on my 2026 bingo card. But then along comes Alice and Steve to prove me wrong. It is nice to find that life still has ways to surprise you.
The Premise
The titular characters have been best friends since meeting at university over 30 years ago. Alice (Nicola Walker) is on her second marriage to Daniel (Joel Fry), a sweet, contented beta-male who is 10 years her junior. They have a teenage son and have raised Alice's daughter Izzy (Yali Topol Margalith) from childhood. Izzy, now 26, has just returned home after breaking up with her boyfriend.
Steve (Jemaine Clement) is a hairstylist, single since his wife left him four years ago. “I wish I was in love and had a baby,” he tells Alice after a friend's funeral. “You deserve to be loved,” she replies, suggesting he find a younger woman. Ten minutes later, Steve is on Alice's sofa with Izzy, whom he has known since birth. The show tries to justify this by portraying Izzy as a confident 26-year-old who initiated the encounter, but this is the first major sign of the fatal flaw: the premise contains a large element of ick, yet creator Sophie Goodhart spends the entire time running away from it.
The Problem
Instead of asking difficult questions about power differentials and whether inexperienced people can truly command a situation involving experienced partners, the show offers a shrugging “What's a fella to do?!” vibe that feels both dated and wrong. We are meant to sympathise with Steve because he occasionally tells Alice he feels bad, but nothing about him earns that sympathy. The fact that Izzy likes Willie Nelson when other twentysomethings haven't heard of him does not make it fate. The show repeatedly insists the sex is incredible, likely because the on-screen chemistry between Clement and Margalith is nil. Margalith does her best, but Clement looks embarrassed throughout.
Character Arcs
Alice quickly discovers the relationship and goes off the deep end. She begins as impetuous and self-centred – a trait she shares with Steve – and remains so through a series of foolish attempts to destroy their relationship. She invites the pair and Izzy's young friends to a dinner party and makes an angry fool of herself. The lack of sympathy for Alice would be a worthy study, but she is written as a shrew, given only broadbrush outrage in a situation that could be mined for nuance. Even an actor as skilled as Walker can do little with the part.
Bright Spots
A few subplots offer relief. A far more touching and believable relationship develops between son Dom (Tyrese Eaton-Dyce) and his crush Rome (Eilidh Fisher), though it is never integrated into the main narrative. Daniel's quiet suffering is more moving than anything else. The ending is ridiculous but consistent with a story in which nothing is convincing or authentic. The ick is the least of Alice and Steve's problems.
Alice and Steve is on Disney+ now.
