X
- 2023
- TV-MA
- HBO Max
- 2023
- TV-MA
- HBO Max
- 2023
- TV-MA
- HBO Max
- 2023
- TV-MA
- HBO Max
Love & Death
Season 1 Premiere: Apr 27, 2023
62
6.7
All Seasons
Top Cast
Metascore
Generally Favorable
Based on 21 Critic Reviews
62
48% Positive
10 Reviews
10 Reviews
43% Mixed
9 Reviews
9 Reviews
10% Negative
2 Reviews
2 Reviews
Metascore
Generally Favorable
Based on 21 Critic Reviews
62
48% Positive
10 Reviews
10 Reviews
43% Mixed
9 Reviews
9 Reviews
10% Negative
2 Reviews
2 Reviews
Love & Death is a standout in part because it's willing to wade into the emotional disarray, but it also rests chiefly on the shoulders of a leading actor capable of capturing all the complexities of David E. Kelley's scripts and Lesli Linka Glatter's direction. Put another way: Love & Death wouldn't be half as riveting without Elizabeth Olsen to bind it all together.
Aside from a layered performance by Olsen that easily surpasses the wig-forward acting of Candy’s miscast Jessica Biel, what sets Love & Death apart from its predecessor, and so many other superficial, ripped-from-the-headlines murder shows (Dahmer—Monster, The Thing About Pam, The Serpent), is Kelley’s refusal to reduce real people to cartoon killers or weirdos or fools.
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 35 User Ratings
6.7
66% Positive
23 Ratings
23 Ratings
23% Mixed
8 Ratings
8 Ratings
11% Negative
4 Ratings
4 Ratings
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 35 User Ratings
6.7
66% Positive
23 Ratings
23 Ratings
23% Mixed
8 Ratings
8 Ratings
11% Negative
4 Ratings
4 Ratings
OK I like this show. It is pretty compelling. The characters are interesting and different from each other. The acting and accents are good. The story kept me interested. The bad sides are that the wigs are so bad and fake-looking that it's embarrassing. They really can't do any better than this? Also, the way the main woman acts, as a religious Christian woman, makes no sense. She takes the lord's name in vain and makes jokes about hooking up with guys at church functions. Weird.
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The show is good, the cast, especially Olsen and her acting, but i can't help but think about the bigger picture, whereas it leans too much on Candy's side and the show almost feels like a "IN CANDY'S DEFENSE..."
It's weird to watch something that dramatizes a real life case. Maybe not for me.
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At seven episodes, the HBO Max series overstays its own welcome but its two aces in the hole are Elizabeth Olsen as the to-the-point Montgomery, who has it all but desires to spice up her life, and Tom Pelphrey as flashy attorney/church member Don Crowder.
Incredibly compelling in its most shocking moments, but a little slow otherwise, Love & Death lives and dies by Elizabeth Olsen’s excellent, charismatic central performance.
Glossy and engaging. ... Too often, though, Kelley’s latest has nothing especially fascinating to say about its protagonist, nor anything novel to add to the conversation about her infamous encounter. It leaves one wanting more, and not in the way it intends.
Olsen works hard to imbue her character with more nuance as the strain of events begins to grind Candy down. But the series itself seems content simply to recreate the events of her case rather than explore them in any deeper psychological or thematic fashion. After seven hours, we end up with no more insight into what happened on that fateful day in Wylie, Texas than if we had just stuck to the Wikipedia page.
There are many shows that sympathize with killers and vilify their victims, but Love & Death never earns privilege. That’s because outside of Elizabeth Olsen’s devastatingly layered performance, Love & Death is a disaster.
Not surprised to see a higher user score than critic score for Love & Death. It's a well-made period drama, if not quite outstanding, and it manages to pull off a few different modes (romance, marriage drama, crime thriller, courtroom drama) without bogging down or coming unstuck.
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Love and Death
A miniseries about the axe murderer, Candy Montgomery.
Elizabeth Olsen is commanding, intense and breathtaking (the Scarlet woman). Delivering a well nuanced portrayal, she's surely secured herself an Emmy nom. After seeing Jesse Plemmons in The Power Of The Dog, his role and acting approach here is very familiar, but done well. Lilly Rabe as neurotic and dislikable Betty is impressive.
The set, visuals and cinematography are stunning, and the 70s & 80s tunes that make up the soundtrack are fitting. The plot was also unraveled slowly and deliciously.
Fans of true crime will definitely love this adaptation.
8/10
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Aside from Elizabeth Olsen's exceptional performance, I think Love & Death fell far short of what it seemed to promise in a first instance.
Honestly the results were very much on par with Hulu's miniseries about the same case, however being from HBO, I must say I was expecting more and better.
It's clear that the concept of this miniseries is to develop a sort of complete deconstruction of Candy Montgomery's persona, and Olsen does her job in terms of what can be seen about it.
However, how much of anything that happens outside of what was seen publicly can be corroborated as a truthful testimony than the mere imagination of the screenwriters based merely on whatever research they've done on their subject?
There's a lack of depth there because it's open to several different interpretations.
It's a competent and entertaining show, but only that.
It will be very forgettable in a couple of months.
It has the budget of HBO, but not the decisive quality that name implies.
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Production Company:
- Blossom Films
- David E. Kelley Productions
- Lionsgate Television
- Texas Monthly
- Whatever Lola Wants Productions
Initial Release Date: Apr 27, 2023
Number of seasons: 1 Season
Rating: TV-MA
Awards
Golden Globes, USA
• 1 Nomination
Online Film & Television Association
• 6 Nominations
Awards Daily Cooler Awards
• 3 Nominations