10 Shows Like Love & Death, Ranked by IMDb Score

Love & Death, a new HBO Max series based on a true story, is coming out this month. Starring Elizabeth Olsen, it follows the story of Candy Montgomery, a peaceful, beloved suburban mother in Texas who is deeply involved in her tight-knit community of church-goers. Everyone adores Candy – but nobody really knows her secrets.

The show, as we’ve mentioned, is based on real crimes and real people, showing that everything is not always as it seems. If you want to get pumped for the new show, or if you just want to take a look at something similar, I’ve got you covered. Here are the ten best shows, like Love & Death, ranked by their IMDb scores.

10. The Girl From Plainville (2022)

IMDb score: 6.3/10

What it’s about: Michelle Carter, a girl from a small town called Plainville, is having a virtual relationship with Conrad Roy III, a boy from another town nearby. They’re constantly texting but don’t really have a physical relationship.

The thing is, Conrad is having mental issues and plans to commit suicide – which, in the end, he does. But things get complicated when the police discover texts from Michelle, encouraging and enticing Conrad to go through with his suicide just so that she could make herself look like the heartbroken victim afterward.

Why it’s like Love & Death: This story is so crazy and unprecedented that it was extremely hard to prosecute. Conrad clearly committed suicide, but also, Michelle clearly had enticed and encouraged – even pushed Conrad – to go through with it. Even if it’s via text, and the two have hardly met in real life, she has to be found accountable.

The Girl from Plainville is similar to Love & Death in the sense that it’s a mini-series based on a real-life case revolving around people from quiet, suburban spots doing crimes that eventually shocked the entire US and even the world. If you want to learn more about the real case, check out HBO’s documentary, I Love You, Now Die.

9. Inventing Anna (2022)

IMDb score: 6.8/10

What it’s about: Vivian Kent, a journalist out to prove herself investigates the case of Anna Delvey, a self-proclaimed German heiress with insanely good taste and even better-lying skills. Anna infiltrated New York’s high society and portrayed herself as one of them while scheming rich folks, banks, and investors into giving her more money than she could handle.

Why it’s like Love & Death: When Inventing Anna came out, I wasn’t acquainted with the true story at all. But, although there’s no murder here as there is in Love & Death, the story is just as unsettling and just as mind-blowing. Like Candy, Anna portrays herself as a totally different person than she actually is. 

It will blow your mind to see how many people she was able to con and how it all came crashing down in the end.

8. The Staircase (2022)

IMDb score: 7.1/10

What it’s about: The police are called by a seemingly frantic Michael Peterson, who allegedly found his wife dead at the bottom of a staircase in their home. The police start their investigation and find numerous holes in Michael’s story, and soon, they accuse him of murder. The show follows his story and the 16-year judicial battle that ensued.

Why it’s like Love & Death: Just like Love & Death, The Staircase follows a real-life case, investigation, and (most likely) murder of a woman in her own home. As the story unfolds, you learn more about her family life, her husband’s dark secrets, and the potential motifs he had to murder his wife in cold blood.

If you want to learn more about this case, I suggest you check out Netflix’s original documentary series with the same title – The Staircase. I found it to be a bit biased and on Michael Peterson’s side, but it will give you an amazing insight into what happened and why the case is still so polarizing.

7. The Thing About Pam (2022)

IMDb score: 7.2/10

What it’s about: In 2011, Betsy Faria was found dead, and her husband, Russ Faria, was accused and convicted of her murder. However, Russ was always adamant about not being guilty and kept insisting that the investigation be done more thoroughly. What ensued was the unraveling of a brutal, murderous scheme developed by a woman named Pam Hupp.

Why it’s like Love & Death: I love true crime shows, as they just feel more real and more plausible. This case, regardless of the fact that it’s a real-life case, will have you in awe at what people are capable of.

Again, like Love & Death, this series is based on a true story, and they do have a lot of things in common, including the lies one develops to cover up for their other lies until the web gets so tangled they get trapped in it themselves.

6. Candy (2022)

IMDb score: 7.2/10

What it’s about: In the 1980s, Candy Montgomery lived in a small town in Texas, where she was a valued community member and had a religious family who loved her very much. When the murder of her friend, Betty Gore, shakes the community, Candy’s secrets will get shaken out, and her seemingly perfect family life will come crashing down.

Why it’s like Love & Death: You didn’t read that wrong – this show couldn’t be more like Love & Death because both are based on the exact same real-life case of Candy Montgomery. In this Hulu original, Jessica Biel portrayed Candy, whereas Elizabeth Olsen will be the titular character in HBO Max’s Love & Death. I can’t wait to compare the shows when they’re both out.

5. A Friend Of The Family (2022)

IMDb score: 7.3/10

What it’s about: The show follows a real-life, horrifying story of the Broberg family and their connection to a guy they thought of as a friend – Robert ‘B’ Berchtold. B manipulated the Brobergs into trusting him with their kids, and he groomed one of their underaged daughters into believing they were in love, as he kidnapped her right in front of their eyes multiple times.

Why it’s like Love & Death: I don’t want to get into the details of the case, as it’s absolutely unsettling and, at times, hard to watch. It’s one of the most diabolical cases you’ll ever here, where the parents have to be held accountable as well, but the despicable actions of Robert Berchtold are something you’ll lose sleep over.

If you want to learn more about this case, I suggest watching the Netflix original documentary, Abducted in Plain Sight – it really laid out the entire story perfectly.

4. Sorry For Your Loss (2018-2019)

IMDb score: 7.4/10

What it’s about: Leigh Shaw’s husband suddenly passes away, and she is left widowed within the blink of an eye. The experience completely changed her life and the relationships she had so far. As she starts to dig into it more, she realizes that there’s a lot she didn’t know about her husband, and she does her best to cope with the ever-looming grief she feels.

Why it’s like Love & Death: This show is unlike any other on the list. It’s not really based on a true story or a crime of any kind. However, it feels perhaps even more real than any other show we’ve mentioned. 

Elizabeth Olsen stars in the lead, just like in Love & Death, and the show feels so well-grounded in reality, dealing with grief as something not just to go through but to embrace as a normal part of life. It’s sad at moments, but a beautiful show overall.

3. The Dropout (2022)

IMDb score: 7.5/10

What it’s about: The Dropout follows the story of Elizabeth Holmes, the owner and founder of Theranos – a new company said to revolutionize healthcare through new blood-related technology. It follows the rise and fall of the company and its owner, including the lies and the crimes that led to it.

Why it’s like Love & Death: Like Love & Death, it follows a true story. Although The Dropout isn’t about a grizzly murder, it is about a person presenting herself as someone else to get what she wants. You do get a little sympathy in the show for Elizabeth Holmes, but overall, the show does a masterful job of depicting what she did wrong – and how she did it.

2. The Act (2019)

IMDb score: 7.9/10

What it’s about: The Act is a series about the real-life story of Dee Dee and Gypsy Blanchard. Gypsy was seemingly a very ill little girl ever since she was born, and her mother was her caretaker who sacrificed everything to be there for her daughter. Again, seemingly. What unravels is a story as shocking as you’ll ever witness.

Why it’s like Love & Death: The Act has to be the most diabolical out of all the true story cases on this list. The story of Dee Dee and Gypsy Blanchard shook the world, and apart from this show, it was incredibly well-presented in HBO’s documentary Mommy Dead And Dearest.

You won’t believe what Dee Dee could do to her child. Like Love & Death, things aren’t always as they initially seem. I mean, Dee Dee got acknowledged and even rewarded before it was discovered that she was the one causing Gypsy’s medical condition to worsen.

1. Unbelievable (2019)

IMDb score: 8.4/10

What it’s about: A young teenage girl claims to have been raped. However, she is accused of lying and even charged by the prosecutors. No one believes her story, but two detectives take the case on and decide to investigate thoroughly until they get to the bottom of the truth – and they discover more than they bargained for.

Why it’s like Love & Death: This isn’t a story of murder. However, like Love & Death, it’ll have you question everything you know about justice and humanity. It’s also based on a true story, as the show’s logline suggests – ‘Based on true events no one believed.’

Unbelievable will have you hooked to the seat and shake you to the core when you realize just how easy it is for the justice system – to be wrong.