It is a truth universally acknowledged that Elizabeth Olsen is the kind of actor that turns every project she touches to 24-carat gold. 

So, yes, we’re very excited that the talented WandaVision star is stepping into the shadowy world of true crime via her new ITV project – in which she employs all of her talents to bring a notorious killer to life on our screens.

Watch the trailer for Love & Death below:

Now, we know what you’re thinking: major deja vu, right? Well, that’s because the story of Candy Montgomery already got the big-star TV treatment last year courtesy of Hulu’s Candy, with none other than Jessica Biel stepping into the well-heeled shoes of the eponymous killer.

Still, with Love & Death branded “David E Kelley’s best show since Big Little Lies” by critics, you better believe we’ll be tuning in.

Here’s what you need to know about the series. 

What is Love & Death about?

Adapted from the work of journalists Jim Atkinson and John Bloom, who co-authored a series of 1984 articles for Texas Monthly as well as the 2018 book Evidence Of Love, this series is less interested in the investigatory aspect of its true crime subject. 

Instead, much like Big Little Lies before it, Love & Death examines the pressures of being a woman living in a close-knit suburban community… for better and (obviously) worse.

It tells the story of Candy, the suburban housewife who seemingly has it all – a happy marriage with a well-paid husband, a loving son and daughter, an active role in the local church and a nice house in a good street. 

Still, she is unable to shake her sense of suburban ennui. She feels suffocated by mundanity. And, sick of her Stepford Wives-style existence, she starts seeking the excitement that she so desperately craves.

“After an unexpectedly charged moment with fellow church member Allan Gore, Candy finds just the risk-taking thrill that’s been missing from her life,” continues the official synopsis. 

“Their ensuing, meticulously strategised affair unfolds mostly as planned – until their respective spouses, Pat and Betty, each discover their secret… and someone picks up an axe.”

Who stars in Love & Death?

Olsen, as mentioned, takes the lead in this one, breathing new life into the starry-eyed Candy, presenting us with a complicated woman: an extrovert forced to languish indoors by societal rules, and a fantasist unlike any other.

Jesse Plemons, meanwhile, stars opposite her as Allan Gore, the man within whom Candy hopes to find some semblance of emotional fulfilment.

They are joined by:

• Patrick Fugit as Pat Montgomery
• Lily Rabe as Betty Gore
• Krysten Ritter as Sherry Cleckler
• Tom Pelphrey as Don Crowder

A pretty talented bunch of actors, as we’re sure you’ll agree…

What are people saying about Love & Death?

The show, which premiered in the US back in April via HBO, divided critics: while some piled praise upon it for doing something different to the typical true crime drama (and everyone lauded Olsen and Plemons’ performances), others felt it got too bogged down in the more mundane aspects of Candy’s life.

For director Lesli Linka Glatter, however, that was exactly the point of the story. “I wanted to dig deeply into these characters and their world, all the while balancing the tonal shifts in the original story,” she says. 

“The story is very much about a perceived version of the classic American dream. It’s about life in the late 1970s – a time when people got married at 22, had kids and church was their social network.”

Glatter adds: “I didn’t want the narrative to be without levity. Life isn’t like that. This is also a story that if it wasn’t true, you couldn’t actually make it up.”

Olsen, who had no contact with the real Candy (who is now 72 and reportedly living in Georgia), felt drawn to the series for this exact same reason.

“[Candy] was always trying to solve problems, especially the huge internal conflict she was experiencing about her identity,” she says. 

“Her kids were already old enough to be in school, but she was still young and – she felt – still sexually desirable.”

Still, the actor admits that she found it a challenge to approach this domestic horror with as much neutrality as possible.

“I have to defend any character I play, but with this story, there was the added challenge of knowing the effect these events have had on so many peoples’ lives,” says Olsen.

“But I almost have to cut that part of my brain off because, while we are telling a true story, we’re still telling a creative story. We have to take certain licences because these people weren’t famous; we don’t know, say, their speech patterns or other personal details. 

“There’s a lot of room for invention.”

When and where can we watch Love & Death?

If you’re ready for another series about Candy Montgomery, Love & Death is airing exclusively in the UK via ITVX on Thursday 7 September.

Will you be tuning in?

Images: ITV