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
www.facebook.com/20thCenturyStudiosAUNZ/

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

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!
www.facebook.com/20thCenturyStudiosAUNZ/