Image Credit: Jay Roach, The Roses (2025)

*Contains mild spoilers*

There is no better experience than watching a comedy in a cinema filled with middle-aged couples who will laugh at anything. Even better still, is seeing The Roses (2025) in this environment with your parents sat beside you. I felt like I had to note down every time they laughed a little too much, just to make sure next time I come home for the holidays the house hadn’t gone up in flames. This film surprised me immensely, but how could I have had any doubts when two powerhouses of drama were set before me.

Based on The War of the Roses (1989) and the book of the same name, The Roses follows the marriage and breakdown of Ivy (Olivia Colman) and Theo (Benedict Cumberbatch) as their individual lives go on enviously opposite paths. What follows are the funniest and most unpredictable moments of a film that I’ve seen all year. The Roses is British humour at its finest, so it doesn’t surprise me at all that American audiences didn’t mesh with it as well, as this film is self-deprecating and passive-aggressive in the way that makes Britain run. The relatability of the characters and their struggles helps with this too, as most audiences will see a bit of themselves within them, but hopefully won’t take it quite as far as Theo and Ivy.

Olivia Colman is one of the funniest British actresses working today. As every middle-aged person seems to love to say, no one can say a Certain rude word as well as her. Not only can she deliver Tony McNamara’s witty dialogue with side-splitting ease, but her facial expressions and body language are second-to-none. I feel like only Benedict Cumberbatch could have matched her energy in the unhinged manner he performs in this film. Their chemistry was to die for and the back and forth revenge reminded me of The Twits in its sharpness and cunning. 

The dinner party in particular was deliciously wicked and would definitely rival Hereditary (2018) for iconic scenes set around the dining room table. The ending leaves you with an involuntary smile as it’s both unpredictable but retrospectively inevitable. It feels like such a long time since we’ve had such a clever comedy that relies more on words than physical comedy, and I think this is a nice change. 

While I think this film is fantastic, I can admit there are some flaws. Kate McKinnon and Andy Samberg’s roles in the film felt repetitive, as every time they were on screen they told the same joke but in different forms; the film didn’t need anymore ‘marriage is a prison’ jokes. I was annoyed rather than amused when they were on screen because I wanted to get back to the main story with Theo and Ivy. 

The film is also set in America, and while I liked the culture clash between British and American humour set up in the film, it would’ve been nice to use a British landscape just because the characters feel out of place. Perhaps this is the reason they did it, or maybe because they wished to appeal more to American audiences. Either way, I would’ve liked to seen the British countryside credited within the story. 

Overall, this film was a breath of fresh air, and not just because it was set at the seaside. It brought me back to cold winter nights when my family and I  would rewatch old episodes of Blackadder and Fawlty Towers where wit was at the forefront. The Roses felt like it was as fun to film as it was to watch and with both Colman and Cumberbatch producing, the passion they had is evident and it’s lovely to see. If this is the future of cinema, I cannot wait for what’s to come. If nothing else, the film has taught me that a bit of banter is healthy in all relationships, as long as neither of you are holding a knife.