After playing a diabolical Scarlet Witch in “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness,” Elizabeth Olsen stars as Candy Montgomery, who was infamously accused of axe murder in 1980 and later acquitted, in “Love and Death.” HBO Max released the first trailer for the upcoming limited series on Thursday.
The seven-episode series premieres on HBO Max on April 27 with its first three episodes. New episodes will release weekly through May 25.
Created by David E. Kelley (“Big Little Lies,” “Nine Perfect Strangers,” “The Lincoln Lawyer”), “Love and 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,” the logline says.
In the real-life case, Candy Montgomery was having an affair with Allan Gore after becoming friends with his wife, Betty Gore, through church. One June 13, 1980, Betty was found murdered while Allan was out of town. She was struck 41 times by an axe. Candy was accused of murdering Betty, but pleaded she was acting in self defense after Betty learned of her husband’s affair. Candy underwent a successful polygraph test and was later acquitted.
Jesse Plemons co-stars as Allan Gore, Lily Rabe plays Betty Gore and Patrick Fugit is Pat Montgomery. The cast also includes Krysten Ritter, Tom Pelphrey, Keir Gilchrist and Elizabeth Marvel.
Last year, Jessica Biel starred in the Hulu limited series “Candy” about the same case. Melanie Lynskey co-starred as Betty Gore, with Pablo Schreiber as Allan Gore.
Watch the trailer for “Love and Death” below.