Love & Death: release date, cast, trailer and everything we know about the Elizabeth Olsen limited series

Elizabeth Olsen in Love & Death
Elizabeth Olsen in Love & Death (Image credit: Jake Giles Netter/HBO Max)

The new HBO Max limited series Love & Death explores the true story of Candy Montgomery, a Texas mother and wife who was accused of killing her friend, Betty Gore, after having an affair with Betty’s husband, Allan. 

The story has captured attention over the years because despite the barbarity of the crime and the fact that Candy had the axe in hand, she was acquitted on the grounds that it was an act of self-defense. A polygraph even proved it.  Love & Death will mark the second project in recent years to cover the gruesome events as Hulu’s Candy also depicted the true crime saga.  

The Love & Death creator David E. Kelley is no stranger to bringing captivating limited series to life. He’s seen great success with Big Little Lies, Nine Perfect Strangers and The Lincoln Lawyer

Here’s everything we know about Love & Death.

Love & Death release date

The first three episodes of Love & Death air on HBO Max on April 27. Subsequent episodes (there are seven in total) air weekly through May 25. 

At this time there's no release date for the UK, but it'll be streaming on ITVX from the autumn.

Love & Death cast

Love & Death stars Elizabeth Olsen (Wandavision) as Candy Montgomery. Olsen has been all over the place in recent years, from Sorry for Your Loss to reprising her role as Wanda Maximoff most recently in Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness.

Also in the cast are Jesse Plemons (The Irishman) as Allan Gore, Lily Rabe (American Horror Story) as Betty Gore and Patrick Fugit (Outcast) as Pat Montgomery. The series also stars Tom Pelphrey, Krysten Ritter, Keir Gilchrist and Elizabeth Marvel.  

Love & Death plot

Here's the logline for the series from HBO: 

"Love & Death tells the true story of Candy and Pat Montgomery and Betty and Allan Gore — two churchgoing couples enjoying their small-town Texas life… until an extramarital affair leads somebody to pick up an axe."

Love & Death trailer

You can tell from the very start of the trailer for Love & Death that something isn't quite right with Olsen's Candy Montgomery as she yearns for something more than the life she has. She's even polite when she asks to have an affair, which makes what happens in the end downright shocking. 

You'll also find the teaser below the trailer:

How to watch Love & Death

Love & Death is an HBO Max original, which means you need a subscription to the premium service in order to watch. Most subscribers to HBO the cable network have access to HBO Max for free. 

Sarabeth Pollock
Editorial Content Producer

 

Sarabeth joined the Watch to Watch team in May 2022. An avid TV and movie fan, her perennial favorites are The Walking Dead, American Horror Story, true crime documentaries on Netflix and anything from Passionflix. You’ve Got Mail, Ocean's Eleven and Signs are movies that she can watch all day long.  


When she's not working, Sarabeth hosts the My Nights Are Booked Podcast (opens in new tab) and blog (opens in new tab) dedicated to books and interviews with authors and actors. She also published her first novel, Once Upon an Interview (opens in new tab), in 2022.