Movie · 2025 · Comedy, Drama, Romance · 1h 45m · R · English
Curator score: 3.8/10 (456.6K ratings)
This marriage ain't big enough for the both of them.
Overview
Life seems easy for picture-perfect couple Ivy and Theo: 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.
Ratings
Curator score: 3.8/10
IMDb: 6.6/10
Letterboxd: 3.40/5
Rotten Tomatoes: 64%
Metacritic: 58
TMDB: 6.7/10
Director
Jay Roach
Production
Searchlight Pictures, South of the River Pictures, SunnyMarch, Delirious Media
Cast
Olivia Colman, Benedict Cumberbatch, Andy Samberg, Kate McKinnon, Belinda Bromilow, Ncuti Gatwa, Sunita Mani, Zoë Chao, Jamie Demetriou, Allison Janney, Delaney Quinn, Ollie Robinson, Hala Finley, Wells Rappaport, Will Smith, Caroline Partridge, Margaret Clunie, Ollie Dabbous, Jude Coward Nicoll, Akie Kotabe
Where to watch
Hulu
Curator Review
Verdict
A glossy, sharply acted marital battle that leans on chemistry, cruelty, and escalating domestic warfare. It sounds funniest when it treats divorce as a competitive sport, but the tonal balance may wobble between biting satire and crowd-pleasing sentiment.
Best for
Viewers who like toxic-relationship comedies
Fans of adult, dialogue-driven ensemble humor
People drawn to prestige actors playing against type
Audiences who enjoy black comedy with emotional undercurrents
Skip if
You want a warm or purely romantic comedy
You dislike mean-spirited marital conflict
You prefer subtle, low-key humor
You are looking for a tightly focused drama rather than tonal swings
Overview
The Roses is built around a simple, nasty premise: a marriage that looks enviable from the outside becomes a battleground once success stops arriving evenly. That setup gives the film room for both comedy and discomfort, and the best versions of this kind of story thrive on the audience’s recognition that love and resentment can coexist for a very long time.
Worth noting
The appeal here is clearly the pairing of Olivia Colman and Benedict Cumberbatch, with the material inviting them to weaponize wit, timing, and wounded pride. The Letterboxd reaction suggests a movie that lands hardest when it treats domestic life as a pressure cooker, with jokes that are cruel enough to sting but still human enough to keep you invested.
Bottom line
Jay Roach is a sensible fit for a polished, performance-forward satire, though the film may be at its weakest if it leans too hard into broad supporting-comedy energy. If you like your relationship movies messy, funny, and a little alarming, this should play well; if you want romance without collateral damage, it probably won’t be your thing.
Top Letterboxd reviews
Josie Marie (4.5★) · 10800 likes
just a couple matching each other’s freak
júlia (4★) · 8357 likes
"suicidal attention seeking whale friend" being a real phrase in this
Movius⎊ (5★) · 7980 likes
They really meant "till death do us apart"
Special thanks to Zendaya
nolan (4★) · 6536 likes
if only my parents divorce made me laugh this much
Matthew Lewis (4★) · 5050 likes
I dunno, by English standards their marriage looked quite healthy to me.
1996 · Comedy, Romance · 1h 59m · R · Curator 7.8/10 (359.1K ratings) · Where to watch: Amazon Prime Video, Peacock Premium, Amazon Prime Video with Ads, Peacock Premium Plus
A polished ensemble comedy that shares a taste for fast dialogue, social performance, and escalating farce.
1999 · Drama · 2h 2m · R · Curator 8.4/10 (2.4M ratings)
A glossy suburban satire about repression, status anxiety, and the rot beneath a perfect exterior.
Topics
black comedy, marital satire, relationship drama, career envy, domestic conflict, ensemble comedy, adult humor, emotional volatility, prestige acting, modern marriage