# Love & Death (2023)

> Two churchgoing Texas couples' lives unravel after an extramarital affair ends in an axe murder, and the aftermath becomes a trial.

Canonical page: https://ember.film/tv/103595

## Facts

- Seasons: 1
- Episodes: 7
- Episode runtime: 55 min
- Status: Ended
- Genres: crime, drama
- Created by: David E. Kelley
- Network: HBO Max, Max
- Cast: Elizabeth Olsen, Jesse Plemons, Lily Rabe, Patrick Fugit, Krysten Ritter, Tom Pelphrey, Amelie Dallimore, Liam Pileggi
- TMDB rating: 7.5/10
- IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt14586350/

## Ember's analysis

- Pacing: measured
- Intensity: strong
- Complexity: accessible
- Violence: brutal
- Tone: bleak, sardonic, tense, unsettling, melancholic

## What critics say

Audiences rate the miniseries positively, with praise for its stylish retelling of a notorious 1980s Texas murder case and its lead performances.

## Synopsis

Love & Death (2023) is an American true crime limited series created by David E. Kelley for HBO Max. Told in seven episodes of roughly fifty-five minutes each, it dramatizes the 1980s small town Texas case in which Candy Montgomery (Elizabeth Olsen), a churchgoing wife and mother, is drawn into an affair with Allan Gore (Jesse Plemons), whose wife Betty (Lily Rabe) is a close friend of her own husband Pat (Patrick Fugit). The engine of the story is the slow pressure of secrets in a comfortable suburb, where ordinary routines of church, neighborhood gatherings and family obligations keep sliding toward a single violent act. The series is a single continuing narrative rather than a case of the week, moving from the domestic unraveling into a courtroom where the question of self-defense becomes a public argument about marriage, faith and small town judgment. Its atmosphere is humid, quiet and uneasy, with a tone that is sharp, sardonic and often bleak. Fans of Big Little Lies, Mare of Easttown and The Staircase will find resonance in its blend of suburban facade and true crime reconstruction.

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