Love & Death | SXSW 2023 TV Review

For decades, rom-com films have romanticized the idea of two lovers joining together at all costs, even if that infraction is while one of the two is currently in a relationship. These films become idealized as the end goal. Don’t believe me? See The Notebook. Because when it’s “true love”, it defies all odds, right? The interesting part is that after romanticizing the future couple, we rarely take a look at the significant destruction applied to all around. Love & Death tells the true life story of an affair that goes wrong and puts the most extremist outcome on display.

Elizabeth Olsen stars as the infamous Candy Montgomery (if you know, you know; if you don’t, skip the Google search to be surprised), whose 1980’s housewife life is just not cutting it anymore. An interaction with Allan Gore (Jesse Plemons) slowly yet swiftly shifts her perspective of him from being a kind friend of her and her husband’s to being insatiably irresistible. The two set off on an elaborately planned affair and the rest is history.

The most fascinating aspect of this new show from HBO max is how the first episode really helps with audience buy-in of these two characters – both individually and with their romance. Alan is struggling with his wife in many respects, but the two are trying day-in and day-out to conceive, which takes a toll on passion and romance within a marriage. It requires their sex life to be planned out, monotonous, and time-regimented, despite Allan’s travel requirements for work. Candy’s life is also very typical for her “societal role” as a housewife in this time. She cares for her family, preps the meals, cleans the house, and occasionally meets up with her church community and friends. Because we see this altruistic side of them both throughout the first episode, it generates a more alluring persona of Candy and Allan.

However, we wouldn’t invest in the kindling of these married characters if not for the dynamic duo of Olsen and Plemons. The two make their characters so varied and multidimensional that it’s hard not to shift and sway on your emotions for them. This roller coaster presents them as unpredictable, complex, and human. Only briefly in the beginning and end of the first episode do we recognize something is going to go awry. Through quick insert shots of blood, it’s apparent that somehow, somebody in this mess ends up with an axe.

Left with intrigue and promise, episode 2 ends on an incredibly energizing note. If you love true crime and the mystery of what’s to come, you’ll die for Love & Death.

Listen to our full review on our SXSW 2023 episode of The Hollywood Outsider podcast: