Quartile rating: 6.5/10 · 1 rating
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.
The Roses (2025) is a remake of the classic War of the Roses, updating the premise with gender-flipped career dynamics. The plot is competently executed but follows a predictable escalation arc familiar from the source material and countless dark-comedy marriage breakdowns. Acting appears solid but unremarkable, keeping the film watchable without transcending the material. Cinematography is functional and polished in a contemporary European production style without distinctive visual identity. Novelty suffers significantly as a remake with a well-worn premise — the gender-role inversion adds mild freshness but not enough to distinguish it from its predecessor or the broader genre. The ending, mirroring the nihilistic resolution of the original, lands with diminished impact when the outcome is largely telegraphed for audiences familiar with the source.