Is this Love or War? The Roses (2025) | Film Review

The Roses (2025) | Film Probe Review

The Roses is a reimagining of the 1989 classic ‘The War of the Roses’, based on the novel by Warren Adler. Starring Benedict Cumberbatch and Olivia Colman, ‘The Roses’ (2025) is a brutal, modern take on the infamous divorce comedy. 

The Roses (2025) playfully depicts the ups and downs of married life, the inner turmoil as two people grow together and ultimately get sick of one another. The Roses (2025) is a raw, unapologetically hilarious story of love and hate. The film holds together thanks to its faultless cast, Cumberbatch and Coleman were a dream team together with inseparable chemistry and hilarious banter back and forth. 

The story takes place over several years, we see Theo and Ivy grow together. Supporting one another in their ventures and taking on responsibilities to better one another. Their relationship doesn’t dramatically spiral until half way through the film, until this point they are happy. I liked the steady build to the inevitable downfall but it was slow, I wanted more drama and more mayhem quicker into the plot. 

Truthfully, everything around the central characters was a painful distraction. The dynamic between American and British was comedic at first but quickly took a nose dive into predictable and cheap humour. The supporting characters were hard to warm to and became irritating far too quickly but as soon as the story directed back to Cumberbatch and Coleman I could take a sigh of relief. 

Cumberbatch and Coleman were brilliant, these roles felt fresh for both actors and I loved seeing them in uncomfortable, comedic, sometimes awful situations. They were both able to play crazy very convincingly and I loved their performances. 

The Roses (2025) is charming, a smart and sharp comedy that keeps you on your toes. Although, I did crave more chaos and even more destruction, the film did delivery in some particularly funny and memorable moments. Overall, I was sold by the lead actors and I was distracted by the supporting characters. This film could have been all the more fun and witty if they gave less air time to the caricature friends. I fear that Hollywood doesn’t know what to do with Kate McKinnon, her characters was all wrong in this film. 

The Roses (2025) is a silly, entertaining comedy that uses slapstick and crude humour throughout. It’s easy to enjoy and the central characters are even easier to relate to.

Who doesn’t want to threaten and slightly maim their spouse?

This is a movie that will leave you with a smile on your face and gives a whole new meaning to the phrase "Till death do us part”. 

Probe Points

★★★