It’s been a good year for lovers of true crime; specifically, this true crime. In 1980, Candy Montgomery attacked her ex-lover’s wife Betty with a wood splitting axe, striking her a total of 41 times and killing her. This was followed by a sensationalised trial that gripped the nation (and spawned two TV shows): a suburban housewife, killing another suburban housewife? Shocking!
Actually, not that shocking. Because Love & Death makes suburbia sound like hell. When we meet this version of Candy (ably played by Elizabeth Olsen), she’s a member of the church choir, a diligent mother to her two children, and 100 per cent taken for granted by her husband Pat. She takes a writing class; he brays like a donkey when he watches the TV. Every. Single. Night.
