THE ROSES (2025)

Love and hate are flip sides of the same coin they say. The “they” being married people. Marriage is an inspiring idea, and when it works, which it very much does for Ivy and Theo (Olivia Colman and Benedict Cumberbatch) and their two adorable children, it’s balanced by laughter, reciprocity and mutual attraction. But that balance, that coin, can flip; and flip it does thanks to a freak California storm that sets this dark comedy into a laugh out loud shine on the slow collapse of a once steadfast relationship. Colman and Cumberbatch have bite as a couple of English expats whose shorthand humour is the stuff of reality, spoken or unspoken by anyone who has drudged through long days of domestic life. And neither of the Roses is precious or beyond reproach. They are equally culpable and vicious and hilarious. Based on a book by Warren Adler, for which there is already a movie adaptation, The War of the Roses (1989), directed by Danny DeVito and starring Michael Douglas, Kathleen Turner and DeVito that succeeded with the dark, but didn’t quite hold up the comedy end of the genre, this latest iteration The Roses succeeds on all fronts, thanks to the leads’ sardonic embodiment of identifiable emotions and unattractive reactions. Who out there in a long-term relationship hasn’t come home hoping for a warmer welcome from a tired partner and felt ashamed for the feelings of resentment? Who hasn’t owned the unattractive bitterness of seeing thankless domestic chores go continuously unthanked. These are normal and dark days for the California couple, who are also shouldering the combined emotions of professional failures and parental guilt. Friends Barry, Amy, Sally and Rory (Andy Samberg, Kate McKinnon, Zoë Chao and Jamie Demetriou) are little help and all only serve to highlight and contribute to the toxicity of modernity. All deftly uphold the satirical tone, save McKinnon, who is out of her depth. The editor should have seen the misreading of the film’s subtle absurdity and cut the failed injections of her patented awkward humour. Small miscasting aside, The Roses is delightfully droll and consistently crass. Marital destruction is no laughing matter. Still, I loved watching these two people hate each other.

WATCH OR NOT: WATCH

Additional musings: Want more dark comedy from Colman? Check out her supporting work in series Peep Show and Fleabag.