The Roses, the new black comedy directed by Jay Roach, begins with a moment that undercuts its entire premise. We meet married couple Theo Rose (Benedict Cumberbatch) and Ivy Rose (Olivia Colman) in counseling, where they have been given an assignment to come up with ten things they love about the other person. What starts as mostly complimentary quickly devolves into insults and name-calling, punctuated by the two laughing off how far their witty banter went. As they leave the office after the therapist states they don’t have the “capacity to fix your problems,” we hear a voiceover from Theo and Ivy, clearly still spending time together, remembering this moment fondly. It’s an odd choice for The Roses, based on the Warren Adler book, The War of the Roses (which was already turned into an excellent, more direct adaptation in 1989), a film that relies on the tension as to what will happen to the Rose family. Will this once-loving couple mend their issues and work towards a reunion, or will they literally kill each other through countless acts of sabotage and potential violence? That’s the key question in Adler’s story, and with The Roses, the film starts with a seeming answer to this integral question. But even more damning is that The Roses simply doesn’t have the heart to get as dark and, well, fucked up, as this story demands for it to be effective.
What Is ‘The Roses’ About?

After this strange introduction to this couple, we jump back to when the Roses first met each other. Theo is a frustrated architect who doesn’t want to compromise his vision, while Ivy is an ambitious chef longing for more creative control in the kitchen. Almost immediately after meeting, the two have sex and decide to move to the U.S. together. Jump forward 10 years, and they’re happy with two kids in America. Theo has been granted the opportunity to craft an impressive museum, and Ivy has opened her own poorly attended seafood restaurant, named “We’ve Got Crabs.” But the dynamics of this couple shift literally overnight when Theo has to deal with an unexpected work disaster on the same day that Ivy’s restaurant finds surprising success. With Theo now at home raising the kids and Ivy becoming a culinary star, the jealousy, resentment, and frustration that were once minimal in this relationship start to become more prominent on both sides. As their marriage starts to fall apart, The Roses wants us to guess whether they can pull through, amicably split, or literally kill each other in their quest for independence in their relationship.
Benedict Cumberbatch and Olivia Colman Are Delightfully Bitter in ‘The Roses’

The Roses primarily works because it’s fantastic to see Cumberbatch and Colman going at each other’s throats in this way. After Oscar nominations for serious dramas like The Father and The Lost Daughter, it’s fantastic to see Colman go back to her comedic origins here, which won her an Oscar for The Favourite, and it continues on from her fun recent work like Wonka and Paddington in Peru. Colman can go big and silly when she wants to, but always grounds that in an honest love and pain that makes Ivy Rose never feel too over-the-top. Similarly, it’s great to see Cumberbatch also let loose, as it’s been a rare occurrence to see him do comedy outside of his brilliant recent work with Wes Anderson. Theo Rose’s mantra is “the work goes on,” and it’s easy to understand his disappointment that his life hasn’t ended up where he wanted. It’s also easy to admire his dedication to rising out of the ashes, and, at the same time, be annoyed by his constant quest for perfection. Like Colman, Cumberbatch knows how to toe that line between being relatable, while also making sure the audience understands how Ivy could be immensely irritated by his actions. Without actors of the caliber of Colman and Cumberbatch, The Roses would likely fall apart. The rest of this ensemble cast, unfortunately, just aren’t given much of anything to do, other than to respond to the downward spiral of the Rose family. Zoë Chao and Jamie Demetriou pop in here and there, while Sunita Mani and Ncuti Gatwa get an occasional moment, but the film simply throws them a rare line, then they’re sent once more to the background. Especially wasted is Allison Janney, who gets one solid scene before leaving as though she never existed. Andy Samberg and Kate McKinnon fare a bit better as a married couple who are friends with Ivy and Theo. We get glimpses at their also-troubled marriage, which makes for some fun comparisons to what the Rose family is going through. But again, the film rarely gives them anything substantial to do, other than be silly or blurt out something unexpected. McKinnon gets to be a funny weirdo, and Samberg, a goof who is frequently in over his head — playing to their strengths but never going beyond that.
Jay Roach and Tony McNamara Never Quite Go as Dark as They Should

For the last decade or so, director Jay Roach has sort of taken the Adam McKay approach, with political films that never bite as hard as they should. Ever since 2008’s Recount, Roach has focused his attention on films like Game Change, Oscar-nominated films like Trumbo and Bombshell, and even his most direct comedy in the last 15 years, The Campaign, was centered on the world of politics. The Roses gets us back to the Roach of Meet the Parents, who can play with the tension of familial moments quite well. Considering Roach made Meet the Parents and Dinner for Schmucks, it’s no surprise that some of The Roses’ biggest bursts of comedy come around the dining room table at the Rose house. Roach certainly feels more at home behind the camera with The Roses than he has with his other recent films, but The Roses doesn’t have the huge, cathartic laughs one would want from a movie like this. The director tries to escalate sequences to a tipping point of hilarity but never manages to hit those highs. In short, The Roses is more enjoyable and clever than laugh-out-loud funny in the way you’d expect from the director of the Austin Powers trilogy. Maybe more surprising is that writer Tony McNamara isn’t hitting the acidic levels that The Roses needs. Again, that opening sequence waters down the mystery at the center of this story right from the jump, which makes these arguments feel less urgent than they should be. Considering McNamara has penned some incredibly dark work, like The Favourite, Poor Things, and The Great, it’s both disappointing and surprising that his script for The Roses doesn’t dig in as deeply as it requires. It also becomes fairly clear early on that this is more of an interpretation of Adler’s novel than a direct adaptation. McNamara finds clever ways to reverse the roles from Adler’s story and make this version more modern. And despite The Roses never getting as bleak as one would think this story should be, McNamara is great at penning a bitterness that can easily shift between playful and nightmarish. At times, The Roses can feel a bit exhausting with its overwritten banter (the cleverness of which the film comments on several times), but structurally, The Roses is decent at mapping out the gradual descent of this marriage. It’s fascinating to watch The Roses after Danny DeVito’s 1989 The War of the Roses. The previous film had no problem delving into the pain and gloom of a marriage falling apart, exploring how love can drive people literally mad. The 1989 film was told with an approach that almost made it feel like it was a rom-com by way of Tim Burton, going from full-on love story to horror in just two hours. Granted, The Roses decidedly isn’t an adaptation in the same way, but it shows how, over time, movies in general have tried to sand down the edges of these types of stories. Sure, it’s enjoyable here and there, and it’s hard not to have a good time watching Colman and Cumberbatch attacking each other. However, it’s difficult to even imagine a big theatrical comedy going as murky as The War of the Roses was able to in the late 1980s. The Roses ties itself up in a nice bow and doesn’t want to get its hands too dirty, which ultimately holds this back from being something truly fantastic. As it stands, The Roses has its charms, but it could’ve used a few more thorns. The Roses comes to theaters on August 29.

The Roses

The Roses doesn’t bite as hard as it should, even though Benedict Cumberbatch and Olivia Colman make it worthwhile.

Release Date

August 29, 2025

Director

Jay Roach

Writers

Warren Adler, Tony McNamara

Producers

Jay Roach, Michelle Graham, Adam Ackland, Leah Clarke, Ed Sinclair, Tom Carver

Pros & Cons

Olivia Colman and Benedict Cumberbatch are great with more comedic roles than we expect from them.
The Roses is good at showing the degradation of a marriage from love to disgust.

The supporting cast doesn’t have much to do.
Tony McNamara’s script isn’t as dark as it probably should be.