After popular drama series like The Undoing and Big Little Lies, David E. Kelley, the creator of these shows, comes with another drama on HBO Max. This new miniseries, Love and Death, will follow a similar theme to the previously mentioned shows. Love and Death is based on the true story of Candy Montgomery from the early 1980s, who murdered her friend and neighbor, Betty Gore.

The show is based on the book titled Evidence of Love: A True Story of Passion and Death in the Suburbs, penned down by John Bloom and Jim Atkinson, along with two long-form articles by the Texas Monthly called “Love & Death In Silicon Prairie, Part I & II.”

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This new series’ main lead will be Elizabeth Olsen, most famously known for her portrayal of Wanda on the recent Disney+ TV series WandaVision and in the MCU franchise. Love and Death will be her next venture in television following the critically acclaimed Marvel series and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. The show will be produced by Lesli Linka Glatter and Nicole Kidman with Lionsgate Television, as reported by The Hollywood Reporter. As per a report by Deadline, Glatter is set to direct this series. She’s most known for directing shows like Mad Men, Homeland, and True Blood.

Now that filming is complete, what does the storyline look like? When is the potential release date? Here’s everything we know so far about HBO Max’s new drama miniseries Love and Death.

Love and Death: The Plot & True Story

     Lionsgate Television

The miniseries will be set in the early 1980s and follows the beautiful and serene life of a couple who are local church attendees in Wylie, Texas. However, life turns completely upside down for them when Candy Montgomery murders her friend Betty Gore by striking her with a wood-splitting ax.

In the late 1970s, Candy and Betty’s husband were having an extra-marital affair, which their respective spouses weren’t aware of. On the day of Gore’s killing, her husband was out of town. He requested the neighbors to go and check on her, and after forcing their way into Betty’s home, they found her corpse, which was stabbed 41 times. Candy automatically becomes the prime suspect in this murder case since she was the last person to have seen Betty alive, as per her statement.

When the trial for the murder continues, Candy accepts that she was responsible for murdering Betty. However, she stated that Betty learned about the affair between her and her husband, and because of that, she was furious and attacked her. So, as per Candy’s statement, she claims that she murdered Betty in self-defense and thus was not guilty of her crime.

We are unsure what kind of storyline this new series intends to take on. Will it cover the storyline of the whole murder, including the affair, or focus on some pivotal moment in the murder or trial. While this murder case has been spoken of for years due to its compelling story, the trial’s outcome left many people second-guessing Candy’s story.

For instance, as pointed out by Soapboxie, there are several holes in the self-defense story that Candy claims, especially since Betty showed no indication of knowing about Candy and her husband’s affair in the days leading up to her death. This was mainly assumed because Candy sent a letter to her parents shortly before her death where she referred to Candy as a “good friend.”

Regardless of which route the showrunners choose to narrate Candy Montgomery’s story on Love and Death, we’ll get to explore many new details.

Love and Death: The Cast

     Netflix

Elizabeth Olsen is on board for this project in the lead role. In her statement with Deadline, HBO Max’s Head of Original Content, Sarah Aubrey, said that she is “incredibly fortunate to have Elizabeth at the center of our story to bring out all the layers of Candy that make this story so unforgettable.” In addition, Kevin Beggs, Lionsgate Television Group chairman, said that “We cannot imagine a more perfect artist to play the leading role of Candy than Elizabeth Olsen. Her talent, charisma, and energy can bewitch audiences like no other.”

In addition to Olsen, the series will also feature Patrick Fugit as Pat Montogomery, Jesse Plemons as Allan Gore, Lily Rabe as Betty Gore, and several others.

Expected Release Date

Love and Death was greenlit back in May 2021, and the filming for the show began on Sept. 27, 2022, and concluded in March 2022. While there is no official release date announced so far by the network, we assume that the show will premiere sometime soon this year.