Yet another Marvel alum has joined Love and Death, HBO Max’s upcoming true-crime limited series. Krysten Ritter has joined the show's cast next to Elizabeth Olsen, Jesse Plemons, Patrick Fugit, and Lily Rabe, playing Sherry Cleckler in the true story of a tragic Friday the 13th murder committed by a seemingly innocent housewife.
Inspired in part by the book Evidence of Love: A True Story of Passion and Death in the Suburbs, Love and Death follows housewife Candy Montgomery (Olsen), a devout churchgoer and housewife in Wylie, Texas whose personality seemingly turns on a dime when she kills her friend and neighbor, Betty Gore (Rabe) with an ax like something out of a horror film. An affair between Candy and Betty’s husband, Allan (Plemons), is uncovered shortly after Candy is arrested, leading to a trial that will turn the small town of Wylie upside down.
HBO is not the only network developing a story based on the Gore murders, either. Hulu also has a hand in the true-crime game, developing a series of their own, titled Candy and starring Elisabeth Moss in the titular murderous role. What differences will become apparent between the two series, no one yet knows, but true-crime fans are surely in for a treat when both finally grace our screens.
Love and Death is produced by the duo behind both Big Little Lies and The Undoing, Nicole Kidman and David E. Kelley, the latter of whom is also set to write the series. Additional stars include Keir Gilchrist as Pastor Ron Adams, Elizabeth Marvel as Pastor Jackie Ponder, and Tom Pelphrey as Don Crowder, with executive producers Per Saari for Blossom Films, Scott Brown and Megan Creydt through Texas Monthly, Matthew Tinker, Michael Klick, and Helen Verno.
No release date has been announced for Love and Death, but if fans want to spot Ritter in the meantime, she is currently starring Netflix’s Nightbooks, an adaptation of J.A. White’s children’s novel, and is slated to direct the first four episodes of The Girl in the Woods for Peacock.