In recent years, true-crime series on streaming services have become widely popular amongst viewers. The success of true-crime shows is mainly because the installments captivate audiences by telling thrilling and suspenseful stories. For instance, hit series like “The Mare of Easttown,” “The Dropout” and “The Staircase” have showcased both real and fictional true-crime stories that have kept viewers wanting more. There will be a new addition to the true-crime collection with HBO Max’s new series “Love & Death.”
Here is everything there is to know about the new HBO Max show:
1. What is “Love & Death” about?
The show follows Candy Montgomery (Elizabeth Olsen), a housewife who does all the household chores, cooks all the meals and takes care of all her children. Her life as a housewife becomes unfulfilling, and she starts an affair with her neighbor Allan Gore (Jesse Plemons) to amend the empty void in her life. The story takes an unexpected turn when Allan’s wife is found dead one night, and Candy is the prime suspect.
2. Who will be in the series?
Elizabeth Olsen will play the lead role of Candy in the show, which is a different role for Olsen. She is best known for portraying Wanda Maximoff from the Marvel saga. Seeing her partake in a new character will be exciting.
Alongside Olsen, viewers can expect to see Jesse Plemons as Allan Gore. This is in addition to “American Horror Stories” star Lily Rabe as Betty Gore and Marvel’s “Jessica Jones” star Krysten Ritter who will be playing a friend of Candy’s.
Other stars featured in the series include Patrick Fugit, Keir Gilchrist, Brian d’Arcy James and Don Crowder.
3. Who’s making the series?
Television writer David E. Kelley, well known for the HBO series “Big Little Lies” and Netflix show “The Lincoln Lawyer,” will present his take on Montgomery’s story as the creator and executive producer of the show.
“I really felt more like a stenographer than a writer in this one,” Kelley said during a South by Southwest Festival panel. “The story was so juicy and the characters were complex and human. It’s not often you find a nostalgic, warm community series that ends with an ax murderer.”
Alongside Kelley, Lesli Linka Glatter will be directing “Love & Death.” According to Vanity Fair, she intends to show all sides of Candy. For instance, Glatter plans to portray Candy as a complicated woman who feels incredibly trapped instead of simply painting her as a monster.
“Here is a young woman who gets married at 20 years old, and she’s done everything right: she has the kids, she has the family, but she has a hole in her psyche that’s a mile wide, and she makes a very bad choice on how to fill it,” Glatter told Entertainment Weekly.
4. Is “Love & Death” based on a true story?
The show is based on the Texas Monthly articles discussing the 1980 case of Texas housewife Candy Montgomery who was accused of murdering her neighbor Betty Gore with an ax. The book, “Evidence of Love: A True Story of Passion and Death in Suburbs” by former Dallas journalists Jim Atkinson and John Bloom also discusses the Candy case, which inspired the show as well.
5. Is this the first TV show adaptation?
“Love & Death” isn’t the first TV adaptation on the story of Montgomery. Just last year, Hulu released its take on the case with a miniseries starring Jessica Biel as Montgomery. Although there has been another adaptation of the Montgomery case, “Love & Death” focuses more on the Texas Monthly articles and the legal case. In contrast, Hulu’s 2022 version focused on a psychological angle through its portrayals of the character dynamics, rendering the shows quite different.
6. When is the release date?
The first three episodes of “Love & Death” will be released on Apr. 27. The remainder of the series will air weekly on HBO Max with four episodes, leading to seven installments of the show. In the meantime, viewers can watch other true-crime shows like “The Staircase” and “Mare of Easttown” on HBO Max while they wait for “Love & Death” to debut.