The Roses (2025) Review!!

Synopsis – A tinderbox of competition and resentments underneath the façade of a picture-perfect couple is ignited when the husband’s professional dreams come crashing down.

My Take – At this point, we have probably seen every kind of story revolving around the difficulties of a marriage, particularly a dissolving one. Too often we get to witness the depressing ways in which a couple who previously adored each other turn to despicable ways to hurt.

And while there is rarely anything to laugh about such a situation, for his latest, director Jay Roach (Meet the Parents, Bombshell) teams up with screenwriter Tony McNamara (The Favourite, Poor Things) to deliver a dark and delightful new romp about all that can go wrong between love and marriage. Something that will have you chuckling in horror and flinching at the brutality.

A re-imagining of the Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner led Danny Devito directed black-comedy classic, The War of the Roses (1989), which itself was an adaptation of Warren Adler‘s 1981 novel, the film scores in the way it makes the story contemporary, resetting it with British characters and replacing some of the cruelty the original is known for with bittersweet edge, balancing sharp humor with a genuine sense of loss.

Most surprisingly, it acknowledges the complexities of marriage, and of gender roles, while never letting us forget the tenderness that once lived there. Sure, it stops short of going the distance, but it makes up for it with by casting Benedict Cumberbatch and Olivia Colman as leads, two British treasures, whose chemistry anchors the film, allowing moments of verbal venom and subtle heartbreak to land with gravitas, even when the film threatens to drift off track.

The story follows Theo Rose (Benedict Cumberbatch), an ambitious architectural student, and Ivy (Olivia Colman), an aspiring chef, who meet one afternoon in London, instantly connect and move to America as it was always her dream to start her own business. And ten years later, they are married and living in Mendocino, California, with their two kids, Hattie (Delaney Quinn and Hala Finley) and Roy (Ollie Robinson and Wells Rappaport). Ivy’s ambitions have a hit a wall so she keeps busy by creating elaborate desserts for the children.

But Theo is flying high; preparations are underway for the opening of a maritime museum he designed with a sculptural rooftop sail reflecting the ship inspiration. To celebrate his success with the lucrative commission, Theo even buys Ivy a modest restaurant to keep her dreams alive. But the loving couple’s equilibrium hits a major bump when a freak coastal storm destroys Theo’s new building before its inauguration and viral videos compound his humiliation.

Overnight, he becomes unemployable. However, at the same time, Ivy’s seafood joint, named We’ve Got Crabs, takes off when she gets a rave review from a popular food critic stranded by the storm. Soon enough, Ivy ends up suggesting it’s her turn to be the principal earner while Theo gets to stay home and look after the kids.

The setup is deliciously promising. What begins as a sharp, clever portrait of two British expats trying to find love and identity in California slowly turns into a marital tug-of-war, but one that never feels as dangerous or emotionally combustible. The narrative is filled with sarcasm, and director Roach continues to be is a deft hand at risqué comedy. McNamara’s screenplay excels in these moments of friction: barbed exchanges that sound like throwaway banter but are, in fact, deeply cutting, or pauses heavy with unsaid dialogue.

His writing is precise and acerbic but also tinged with humanity, elevating the film beyond mere satire. Here, the film is more interested in showing a modern marriage and all its pitfalls in a day and age of equal ambition and individualism on the part of both husband and wife, each with desire for perfection and need for career success, not only in their marriage and family but, in very 2025 terms, for themselves.

While the original film is lauded as being a very close interpretation of the 1981 novel, this one brings a bit more balance to the story. While 1989 film showcased the dissatisfaction of domestic life and unhappiness driven primarily by the wife, the modern take shows the pain of two people with career and family ambitions who can’t seem to find a middle ground where both are fulfilled.

Despite their best efforts to split the tasks that lay before them, envy, frustration and stagnation plague each of their pursuits. It shows us how unspoken insecurities, lack of communication, and buried resentment can spoil any relationship.

However, a major flaw of the script is the role of those friends, despite four of them being a schematic representation of other mismatched couples who perhaps have less reason to be together than Theo and Ivy. There are just too many supporting characters for them all to be of use.

Performance wise, Olivia Colman is in top form. She brings an unrelenting intensity to Ivy as she shows the perfect balance between ambition and quiet vulnerability. Benedict Cumberbatch portrays Theo as both charming and fragile. He is brilliant with his attempts to hide his failures behind humor and make his emotional breakdowns all the more powerful. Their crackling chemistry makes their characters’ descent into domestic warfare both believable and devastating. Their interactions are funny in ways that feel lived-in, never just played for laughs.

The supporting cast, which includes the likes of Andy Samberg, Kate McKinnon, Zoë Chao, Jamie Demetriou, Ncuti Gatwa, Sunita Mani, Delaney Quinn, Hala Finley, Ollie Robinson, Wells Rappaport and Allison Janney add to the dynamic. On the whole, ‘The Roses‘ is a darkly funny re-imagining anchored by excellent writing and fantastic leads.