The Roses Movie 2025: Cast, Where to Watch, Reviews

Benedict Cumberbatch and Olivia Colman make an unexpected pair — and that tension is exactly what makes The Roses work. This 2025 reimagining of Warren Adler’s dark divorce saga drops the original’s earnest intensity for something sharper, positioning Colman’s rising restaurateur against Cumberbatch’s crumbling architect. Jay Roach directs with a satirical edge that the 1989 version never attempted. Below, everything you need to know before pressing play: cast, streaming options, reviews, and the remarkable 27-year path this project took to reach screens.

Director: Jay Roach ·
Screenplay: Tony McNamara ·
Based on: 1981 novel The War of the Roses ·
Genre: Satirical black comedy ·
Release Year: 2025

Where can I watch the Rose movie 2025?

Three release windows cover all viewing preferences, with Disney+ handling the primary U.S. streaming role.

How to watch and stream The Roses – 2025 on Roku

Disney+ holds exclusive U.S. streaming rights for The Roses as of late 2025. U.S. subscribers 18 and older can stream the R-rated title directly through the Disney+ app on Roku, Fire TV, and smart TVs. The platform offers both ad-supported and ad-free tiers.

Is the movie The Roses on Netflix?

Netflix does not carry The Roses. Searchlight Pictures, the film’s theatrical distributor, holds streaming rights, and those rights landed with Disney+ rather than Netflix. This arrangement reflects Disney’s broader deal with 20th Century Studios properties.

Is The Roses coming on Netflix?

No announcement suggests a Netflix debut in the near term. Streaming rights remain locked to Disney+ for the foreseeable window.

Is ‘The Roses’ 2025 Movie Streaming on Netflix or Amazon Prime Video?

Neither Netflix nor standard Prime Video streams the film. However, digital HD purchase and rental became available through Amazon Video and iTunes starting October 21, 2025 — the same date as the digital release. Prime Video users can rent or buy the file but cannot stream it as part of a standard subscription.

Will The Roses be on Prime?

No indication points to a Prime Video debut in 2025 or early 2026. The physical DVD and Blu-ray release on November 25, 2025, may eventually circulate through library channels, but streaming rights remain locked to Disney+ for the foreseeable window.

Is The Roses 2025 a remake of War of the Roses?

Yes, though the team prefers “reimagining.” Director Jay Roach and screenwriter Tony McNamara adapted Warren Adler’s 1981 novel directly, drawing from the 1989 Danny DeVito film as a tonal reference rather than a script source. The bones remain the same — a couple’s marriage collapses over a house — but the satirical register and character dynamics shift substantially.

The War of the Roses movie 2025

The 2025 version reshapes the central couple into Theo and Ivy Rose, trading the original’s blue-collar Oliver for a high-achieving architect and giving Ivy a rising restaurant career instead of Barbara’s homemaker role. That career reversal becomes the engine of the satire — the film watches a man’s status crumble while his wife’s rises, both inside and outside the marriage.

The pattern: swapping gender-coded power dynamics from the original to reflect contemporary conversations about ambition, resentment, and partnership roles. Where DeVito’s film played the divorce as escalating war, Roach’s version finds dark comedy in the same material.

Is The Roses a good movie?

Critics received The Roses with mixed reactions, with praise concentrated on the cast chemistry and the screenplay’s satirical intelligence, while some questioned whether the comedic distance undermines the story’s emotional stakes.

What did critics think of the Rose movie?

War, What Is It Good For?

Rotten Tomatoes critic review headline

The Rotten Tomatoes consensus notes that Colman and Cumberbatch elevate material that could have coasted on nostalgia, bringing distinct comedic timing to roles written with their strengths in mind. The film earned a $15.3 million domestic gross against a $52 million worldwide total — modest for its star power, but consistent with the mid-budget black comedy market.

The trade-off: audiences seeking the scalding intensity of the 1989 film will find the 2025 version lighter and at times detached. Those open to a bitter domestic satire in the vein of Election or In the Company of Men will find more to celebrate.

The catch: Colman and Cumberbatch elevate the material enough that the film’s satirical distance becomes a feature rather than a flaw — but viewers who need emotional catharsis from their divorce sagas should look elsewhere.

Does The Roses film have a happy ending?

No, and the film does not pretend otherwise. The title itself signals where this is headed — “All’s fair when love is war,” as the official trailer tagline put it.

The Roses movie 2025 ending

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.

Official synopsis published by Rotten Tomatoes

The narrative follows the couple from professional peak to personal collapse. Ivy’s restaurant venture flourishes while Theo’s architectural practice falters — a reversal that poisons the marriage from within. The film tracks their descent through a marriage counselor, lawyers, and escalating conflict, ending in a manner faithful to Adler’s source material without spoiling the specifics.

What to expect: the ending lands as tragedy and farce simultaneously, consistent with the satirical tone established from the opening scene. Viewers who go in expecting dark laughs rather than cathartic resolution tend to respond better.

What movie took 27 years to make?

The project behind The Roses spent over a decade in development before reaching production — one of the longer paths from announcement to release in recent studio comedy history.

The Roses film 2025 release date

Searchlight Pictures released the film theatrically on August 29, 2025, in both the United States and United Kingdom. Asia received a staggered theatrical release beginning September 4, 2025. Digital HD arrived October 21, 2025, with DVD and Blu-ray following on November 25, 2025.

The Roses movie release date

Jay Roach directed from a screenplay by Tony McNamara. Olivia Colman starred as Ivy Rose, the up-and-coming restaurateur, while Benedict Cumberbatch played Theo Rose, her husband and a successful architect. Supporting players included Andy Samberg as Barry (Theo’s friend and later divorce lawyer), Kate McKinnon as Amy (Barry’s wife), Allison Janney as Eleanor (Ivy’s divorce lawyer), Ncuti Gatwa as Jeffrey (front-house manager), Sunita Mani as Jane (sous-chef), and Zoë Chao as Sally (the couple’s friend).

The catch: eleven years of development limbo before Tony McNamara’s screenplay brought the project back to active production. The delay allowed the team to land Colman and Cumberbatch — a casting outcome that likely would not have been possible in 2013.

Full cast breakdown

The film runs 1 hour 45 minutes with an MPAA R rating for language, drug content, and sexual content. The aspect ratio is Flat (1.85:1).

Is The Roses worth watching?

For U.S. viewers with Disney+ access, the choice is straightforward: stream now. For international audiences or those without the platform, the October 21 digital release on Amazon Video and iTunes offers the next-best option before the November physical media launch.

Related reading: Wolf of Wall Street Cast

Benedict Cumberbatch and Olivia Colman bring sharp wit to Jay Roach’s satire on marital collapse, where detailed plot and reviews unpacks the full storyline alongside fresh critic takes.

Frequently asked questions