Growing up, it was always fascinating to observe the different family dynamics at play amongst my friends and their parents. Some were liberal, some were conservative, but none were like the Roses. Made up of parental units, Ivy (Olivia Colman), a pot-smoking, wise-cracking gourmet chef Mom and a neurotic architect Father, Theo (Benedict Cumberbatch), who together make the most unconventional Pommie couple ever.

Their coming together was storybook and instantaneous, their tip into separation and animosities slow and grinding. Theo, through a building project disaster, loses his job and reputation and retires to raise their two children. At the same time, Ivy scales the heights, running a restaurant that becomes wildly successful and expands to become a thriving chain of locations.

The animosity that builds between the couple is played mostly for laughs, but the vitriol that lies underneath is caustic and pries them apart. Their surrealistic life is not tethered to reality when they are around their friends, either, as they are a very odd mob. Nothing phases best mate Barry (Andy Samberg), whose advice is comical at best and his partner Amy (the under-utilised Kate McKinnon) is hard to pin down.

Most of the humour resides in the combative banter between Ivy and Theo, and while not all the jokes hit their mark, they are consistently amusing. The detachment of the reality of their ultra-entitled lifestyle and money-fuelled existence is there and provides more comic fodder. The good fun is there, but is slightly marred by a lack of chemistry between the two leads as that relationship prevents the good from being great.
Rob Hudson
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Catch a sneak peek preview of the hilarious new comedy THE ROSES at the Dendy’s RomComedy Night Preview on Friday, August 29 with a glass of sparkling on arrival. Or you can catch one of our Preview Screenings on 30 & 31 August.

From the director of Meet the Parents and starring Benedict Cumberbatch and Olivia Colman, The Roses is a reimagining of the 1989 classic The War of the Roses, in which Cumberbatch and Colman play the seemingly picture-perfect couple Ivy and Theo. But beneath the façade of their supposed ideal life, a storm is brewing – as Theo’s career nosedives while Ivy’s own ambitions take off, a tinderbox of fierce competition and hidden resentment ignites.

The Roses Preview Screenings
Dendy Cinemas Portside
29-31 August 2025
www.dendy.com.au

The story is almost entirely built around the strange life of Zsa-zsa Korda (Benicio Del Toro) and he features in nearly every scene. He is a rich and powerful industrialist with a bent moral compass. Through a lifetime of questionable dealings with friends and foes alike, he has acquired a large number of enemies whose attempts to assassinate him drive the film’s comic overview.

Most of these attempts happen while in flight so it’s a given you wouldn’t want to find yourself in an aeroplane with him. After so many attempts on his life, he considers his mortality and seeks an heir. He ignores his nine sons and names his only daughter Liesl (Mia Threapleton), who happens to be a nun to be his sole heir. After spending most of their lives completely apart, their reunion underlines most of the plot points. Michael Cera as the mysterious Bjørn Lund also features prominently.

With Anderson’s ever-growing filmography, most fans develop favourites and rate any new work against them. In that respect, The Phoenician Scheme fits solidly in the middle. In the Wes World, it’s a comforting addition and while it offers few outright surprises, it still takes a unique look at family dynamics and the acceptance of the quirks that underline almost every clan. It’s a worthy addition to an eclectic canon.
Rob Hudson
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Life seems easy for picture-perfect couple Ivy (Olivia Colman) and Theo (Benedict Cumberbatch): successful careers, a loving marriage, great kids. But beneath the façade of their supposed ideal life, a storm is brewing – as Theo’s career nosedives while Ivy’s own ambitions take off, a tinderbox of fierce competition and hidden resentment ignites. The Roses is a reimagining of the 1989 classic film The War of the Roses, based on the novel by Warren Adler.

Searchlight Pictures presents The Roses, directed by Jay Roach (Bombshell, Austin Powers). The film stars Academy Award® winner Colman (Wicked Little Letters, The Favourite) alongside Academy Award® nominee Cumberbatch (Doctor Strange, The Power of the Dog). The film also stars Andy Samberg (Palm Springs, Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping), Academy Award® winner Allison Janney (I,Tonya), Belinda Bromilow (‘The Great’), Sunita Mani (‘GLOW’), Ncuti Gatwa (Barbie, ‘Doctor Who’), Jamie Demetriou (‘Fleabag’), Zoë Chao (Nightbitch), and Kate McKinnon (Barbie, Ghostbusters). The screenplay is written by Academy Award® nominee Tony McNamara (Poor Things, The Favourite).

The Roses opens in Australian cinemas August 28!
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Starring Benicio del Toro as Zsa-zsa Korda, one of the richest men in Europe; Mia Threapleton as Liesl, his daughter/a nun; Michael Cera as Bjorn, their tutor.

With Riz Ahmed, Tom Hanks, Bryan Cranston, Mathieu Amalric, Richard Ayoade, Jeffrey Wright, Scarlett Johansson, Benedict Cumberbatch, Rupert Friend, Hope Davis.
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Highlights include a classic cameo and some interesting universe graduates introduced and then dispatched rather quickly. There is also a great scene where two of the Doctors battle each other with music notes. This was very much enhanced by seeing the film in a theatre with a kick-butt sound system.

The storyline as it is makes little sense but that is almost beside the point by this moment in time. Suspend expectations and just revel in clever homages to some classic sci-fi films of the past (2001: A Space Odyssey I’m looking at you) and some very imaginative computer-driven special effects that have the wow factor.

With the company behind the Star Wars movies burnout hopefully learning their lesson, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is well placed to live in that episodic world but can easily exist outside of it as well. Of course, stay to the very end of the credits to catch a coda to that classic cameo mentioned earlier.
Rob Hudson
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In Marvel Studios’ “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness,” the MCU unlocks the Multiverse and pushes its boundaries further than ever before. Journey into the unknown with Doctor Strange, who, with the help of mystical allies both old and new, traverses the mind-bending and dangerous alternate realities of the Multiverse to confront a mysterious new adversary.

“Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness” stars Benedict Cumberbatch, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Elizabeth Olsen, Benedict Wong, Xochitl Gomez, with Michael Stühlbarg, and Rachel McAdams.

The film is directed by Sam Raimi, and Kevin Feige is the producer. Louis D’Esposito, Victoria Alonso, Eric Hauserman Carroll and Jamie Christopher serve as executive producers. The screenplay was written by Michael Waldron.

“Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness” releases in Australian cinemas on May 5, 2022.

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“The Multiverse is a concept about which we know frighteningly little.”

“Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness” opens in Australian cinemas on May 5, 2022.
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It’s not the easiest film to review because there are so many moments of delightful surprise that to reveal even the slightest tidbit would do viewers a real disservice. Just suffice to say that there is an almost constant flow of elements that fill the theatre with loud and lusty cheers.

Picking up where Spider-Man: Far from Home left off with Quentin Beck (Jake Gyllenhaal) telling the world the true identity of Spider-Man, Peter Parker now has his hands full with the disclosure. From this point on the story spins into some bold and adventurist avenues while the multiverse unfolds to the delight of the audience.

The character of Spider-Man has always had the most elastic connection to the Marvel Universe and this has led to a wonderful degree of freedom, even allowing an outstanding excursion into the animated world with Into the Spider-Verse. In some ways Spider-Man: No Way Home pulls Spidey fully into the MCU but in others that freedom has led to one of the companies’ most entertaining properties.

Rob Hudson
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When he enlists Doctor Strange’s help to restore his secret, the spell tears a hole in their world, releasing the most powerful villains who’ve ever fought a Spider-Man in any universe.

Now, Peter will have to overcome his greatest challenge yet, which will not only forever alter his own future but the future of the Multiverse.

Starring Tom Holland, Zendaya, Benedict Cumberbatch, Jon Favreau, Jacob Batalon with Marisa Tomei, Spider-Man: No Way Home will be released in Australian cinemas December 16!

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