Elizabeth Olsen Takes on the Infamous Candy Montgomery in ‘Love & Death’ Trailer
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Elizabeth Olsen isn’t satisfied in the trailer for Love & Death.
The official first look at the HBO Max true-crime drama (below) focuses on Candy Montgomery (Olsen) and Allan Gore (Jesse Plemons), as one-half of two churchgoing couples enjoying small town family life in Texas… until somebody picks up an axe, as the logline reads (and, as the true story goes).
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“I have done all the things a wife is supposed to do. The house. The meals. Where is the payback?” Olsen’s Candy asks in voiceover, expressing her suburban housewife ennui, before propositioning Plemons’ Allan: “Would you be interested in having an affair?”
The limited series is written by David E. Kelley (Big Little Lies, The Undoing) and directed by Lesli Linka Glatter (Homeland, Mad Men), who helms the majority of the episodes. The seven-episode series premieres with the first three installments on April 27, followed by a weekly release on Thursdays.
The psychological drama tells the tragic but true story of Candy Montgomery, the notorious suburban Texas housewife accused of murder in the 1980s. Montgomery was accused of brutally murdering her friend Betty Gore with an axe (she was found with 41 wounds) after having an affair with her husband.
In Love & Death, Lily Rabe takes on the role of Betty and Patrick Fugit plays Candy’s husband, Pat Montgomery. The series explores the events leading up to the murder, followed by the trial and aftermath.
Krysten Ritter, Tom Pelphrey, Keir Gilchrist and Elizabeth Marvel round out the cast.
Candy’s real-life story was first explored last year with the Hulu series starring Jessica Biel in the title role. Candy, which Biel also executive produced, featured the transformative actress in a short curly wig and large glasses, a costume that made the actress unrecognizable even to herself.
Love & Death, which was first announced in 2021, sees Marvel star Olsen taking a different approach physically, but appears to be equally transformative by the tone she strikes in the first look.
The full trailer, which was later released, shows more of the affair and the aftermath. In the nearly three minutes of footage, viewers see Candy being questioned about the brutal murder of Betty, and there is much to be gleaned by how Olsen plays her reactions as they range from stoic to scared.
Love & Death is inspired by the book Evidence of Love: A True Story of Passion and Death in the Suburbs and the Texas Monthly articles “Love & Death in Silicon Prairie, Part I & II.”
The Max Original is co-produced by Lionsgate. Executive producers are Kelley through David E. Kelley Productions; Nicole Kidman and Per Saari through Blossom Films; Glatter; Scott Brown and Megan Creydt through Texas Monthly; Matthew Tinker; Michael Klick and Helen Verno.
March 23, 8:30 a.m. Updated to include the full trailer.
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