Love & Death – All We Know About The Elizabeth Olsen Series
Love & Death is the Elizabeth Olsen HBO true crime series about Candy Montgomery.
True crime stories seem to be all the rage these days, not only in the podcasting sphere but also in the limited series form on television. The latest example of this is the upcoming HBO Max miniseries Love & Death, which stars Elizabeth Olsen as Candy Montgomery, a 1980s-era accused murderer in Texas. If that sounds vaguely familiar, there is a good reason, as this isn’t the first time Montgomery’s story has made its way to the small screen.
Elizabeth Olsen has made most of her acting career around spending time in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. But it seems the performer is heading back to her mystery genre roots by starring in Love & Death.
After her Primetime Emmy Award-nominated performance in 2021’s WandaVision, television might be a well-suited medium for Olsen going forward.
Here is all we know about the Elizabeth Olsen miniseries Love & Death.
THIS IS THE SECOND CANDY MONTGOMERY TRUE CRIME SERIES IN THE PAST TWO YEARS
Love & Death revolves around Candy Montgomery, a housewife from Wylie, Texas who was accused of murdering her friend Betty Gore in 1980. The murder was committed with a wood-splitting axe, which was used to strike Gore 41 times. Montgomery had supposedly been carrying on an affair with Gore’s husband, Allan, and claimed self-dense at the murder trial.
The trial resulted in a not guilty verdict for Montgomery, who Elizabeth Olsen will embody in Love & Death. The same premise and true crime story were depicted in the 2022 series Candy, which starred Jessica Biel in the titular role. That series premiered on Hulu in May 2022 and costarred Melanie Lynskey, Pablo Schreiber, and Timothy Simons.
Unlike the Hulu adaptation, Love & Death is specifically based on the books Evidence of Love: A True Story of Passion and Death in the Suburbs and Love & Death In Silicon Prairie, Part I & II by John Bloom and Jim Atkinson, as well as articles published in Texas Monthly.
Love & Death is being distributed by Warner Bros Television and produced by David E. Kelley Productions, Blossom Films, Texas Monthly, and Lionsgate Television.
The Montgomery/Gore case was headline news in the 1980s, which spawned several adaptations due to the case’s monstrous crime. Director Stephen Gyllenhaal helmed the 1990 television movie A Killing in a Small Town, which was also based on the case.
While the characters’ names were changed in the 1990 version, lead actor Barbara Hershey went on to win a Primetime Emmy Award for her work as Candy in the project.
LOVE & DEATH EXPLORES CANDY MONTGOMERY’S MINDSET
Since Candy Montgomery’s case has been adapted for the small screen several times, it seems true crime audiences want to dig deeper into her small-town story. The murder of Betty Gore gripped the North Texas town, and Montgomery’s not-guilty verdict made her an outcast who seemingly got away with murder. Montgomery is still alive at the age of 73, and she was 30 years old when the crime took place.
Love & Death appears to go further into Candy Montgomery’s psyche, aiming to show a woman desperate for attention and striving for adventure in her quaint existence. By casting Elizabeth Olsen in the limited series, HBO Max seems poised to have a ratings hit with a distinguished actor attached and possibly campaign during awards season later this year.
Also, the all-star cast of Love & Death makes it almost impossible not to want to watch Montgomery’s story unfold, even if Jessica Biel‘s version left viewers satisfied last year.
THE CAST OF LOVE & DEATH STARS ELIZABETH OLSEN, JESSE PLEMONS, AND MANY OTHERS
Mega-producer and writer David E. Kelley has assembled an eclectic cast to star in Love & Death alongside lead Elizabeth Olsen for the HBO Max series. Jesse Plemons of Fargo fame will be costarring in the miniseries as Allan Gore, while American Horror Story alum Lily Rabe will take on the part of the ill-fated Betty Gore.
Some other notable names will appear in some fashion during the six-episode limited series of Love & Death. Former Almost Famous actor Patrick Fugit will get some screen time opposite Elizabeth Olsen in the show as Pat Montgomery, Candy’s husband. Other performers expected to show their faces on the series are Keir Gilchrist, Elizabeth Marvel, Beth Broderick, Brice McGill, and Krysten Ritter.
David E. Kelley has made a name for himself writing and producing hit television shows for HBO as of late, with The Undoing and Big Little Lies the most high-profile projects to come out in the past few years. Both of those shows were also produced by Nicole Kidman, who is listed as an executive producer alongside Kelley and director Lesli Linka Glatter on Love & Death as well.
SEE THE THE LOVE & DEATH TEASER TRAILER
While an official trailer has yet to be made available by HBO Max, the streamer has released a teaser to their YouTube account.
The teaser reflects Elizabeth Olsen in her element as Candy Montgomery, narrating for the audience in a small-town Texas accent. It shows how secretive Montgomery is and how ambitious she was in real life as a church-going housewife caught up in a love affair with her friend’s husband.
THE LOVE & DEATH RELEASE DATE IS APRIL 27, 2023
After the success of Candy on Hulu, it seems that HBO Max had pushed out their introduction to the Candy Montgomery case on Love & Death so they wouldn’t be competing with Hulu. According to Tales From the Collection, Love & Death filmed many scenes in and around the Austin, Texas area starting in September 2021 and finishing in April 2022. It is no surprise then that the series will have its world premiere in Austin at this year’s South by Southwest Film & TV Festival on March 11.
After Love & Death premieres in Austin this month, Elizabeth Olsen and Jesse Plemons will be busy promoting their new series for general audiences to enjoy.
Deadline reports that the show will debut on HBO Max on April 27 and then air one episode each week until May 25. The 34-year-old Olsen doesn’t currently have any other projects in the works, so Love & Death might be the last series she is involved with for a while.
