The Roses Feels Like More Than Just a Nostalgic Rewind: My Thoughts and What to Know
- Damian Ali
- Jun 23
- 4 min read
Updated: 2 days ago
Based on the trailer, this reimagining feels less like a remake and more like a new kind of scorched-earth battlefield shaped by modern love, ambition, and ego.

Olivia Colman and Benedict Cumberbatch as Ivy and Theo in The Roses. Photo by Jaap Buitendijk: Courtesy of Searchlight Pictures
Technically, The Roses, set to premiere in theaters on August 29, 2025, is a reimagining of the 1989 cult classic The War of the Roses. But calling it a remake feels like calling Wednesday a remake of The Addams Family—technically true, but creatively miles apart. Executive produced by and starring Benedict Cumberbatch and Olivia Colman, this new film feels more like a spiritual successor than a remake.
Director Jay Roach said the new film "has some of the plot moves but very little of the content." The original, directed by Danny DeVito and based on Warren Adler's 1981 novel of the same name, begins with a seemingly perfect couple whose marriage implodes in spectacularly vicious fashion.
It stars Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner as Oliver and Barbara Rose, empty nesters headed for a typical divorce that spirals into a full-blown domestic war. What starts as passive-aggressive one-upmanship quickly becomes aggressive-aggressive destruction, with a tone that is equal parts comedy and tragedy.
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Olivia Colman as Ivy and Benedict Cumberbatch as Theo in The Roses. Photo by Jaap Buitendijk: Courtesy of Searchlight Pictures
The Roses Synopsis
Life seems easy for picture-perfect couple Ivy (Colman) and Theo (Cumberbatch): successful careers, a loving marriage, and great kids. But beneath the façade of their supposed ideal life, a storm is brewing. As Theo's career nosedives and Ivy's ambitions take off, a tinderbox of fierce competition and hidden resentment ignites.
Alongside Cumberbatch and Colman, this dark comedy also stars Andy Samberg and Kate McKinnon as Barry and Amy, friends of Theo and Ivy Rose. The cast includes Allison Janney, Belinda Bromilow, Sunita Mani, Ncuti Gatwa, Jamie Demetriou, and Zoë Chao.

Side-by-side key art of The War of the Roses (1989) featuring Michael Douglas, Kathleen Turner, and Danny DeVito, and The Roses (2025) featuring Olivia Colman, Benedict Cumberbatch, and ensemble. © 20th Century Studios / Searchlight Pictures
Both the original film and the new version are dark comedies, but there are clear differences that make The Roses feel more like an alternate reality asking, "What if this happened instead?" One of the first key changes comes from writer Tony McNamara (Poor Things), who explained that his characters genuinely want to stay together but just can't seem to stop sabotaging things. The original War of the Roses, by contrast, was about two people desperate to get away from each other, taking whatever they could in the process.
In the original, DeVito played a lawyer telling the Roses' story as a cautionary tale. The new film drops that setup and unfolds in real-time, pulling viewers straight into the chaos. The setting also shifts from Washington, D.C. to the California coast. This time, the couple are British expats, which adds another layer of tension as they try to navigate their lives in a place that's not quite home.
And while the first film focused almost entirely on the couple, the remake brings in a broader ensemble cast, adding more outside pressure to an already crumbling marriage.

(L to R) Sunita Mani as Jane, Olivia Colman as Ivy, and Ncuti Gatwa as Jeffrey in The Roses. Photo by Jaap Buitendijk: Courtesy of Searchlight Pictures
One of the biggest changes you'll notice from the trailer is how the relationship dynamic has flipped. In the 1989 film, Michael Douglas played the main earner while Kathleen Turner's character fought for independence. The new story has a setup that echoes Mr. Mom (1983), where Michael Keaton and Teri Garr tackled the chaos of swapped gender roles.
In The Roses, it's Ivy (Colman) who's on the rise. She owns a seafood restaurant called We've Got Crabs that's gaining national attention, while her husband Theo (Cumberbatch), an out-of-work architect, struggles with being an at-home dad. That imbalance becomes the spark for everything that follows.
If you consider the absence of a narrator, a wife as the breadwinner, the expat backdrop, and a cast of characters dropped into what looks like a slow, stylish descent into domestic madness, The Roses starts to feel like a fresh take on a tale as old as time.
And for the remake-skeptical crowd? I hear you. Some see remakes as lazy cash grabs, emotional vandalism, or creativity on autopilot. But The Roses feels like the opposite: a film that respects the original and its source material by refusing to be a simple copy. I'm happy to go down this rabbit hole again, this time with fresh ideas.
Because really, what's the point of redoing something if you're not going to take the gloves off? From what's in the trailer, I feel like the showrunners are trying something fresh with this story.
Thanks for reading.
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