“I wanted to explore how love curdles into competition—not with shouting, but with silence, sabotage, and the kind of wit that cuts deeper than rage,” said screenwriter Tony McNamara of The Roses, transforming the emotional chaos of the original War of the Roses into a sleek, satirical dissection of modern relationships.
The Roses, directed by Jay Roach from a screenplay by Tony McNamara, is a satirical black comedy that reimagines the 1989 cult classic The War of the Roses, itself based on Warren Adler’s novel.
In director Jay Roach’s The Roses, the equally acclaimed and beloved pair of British actors Benedict Cumberbatch (The Power of the Dog, ‘Sherlock’) and Olivia Colman (The Favourite, ‘The Crown’), paired for the first time on screen, play Theo and Ivy Rose, a married couple who fell madly in love when they first met – but whose marriage slowly unravels under the pressure of modern family dynamics. What begins as playful banter spirals into all-out emotional warfare, with neither willing to surrender. The result? A brilliantly unhinged exploration of love tipping into chaos.
“The tone is unique, it’s basically real life,” says Roach (Bombshell, Meet the Parents). “I often use humour to navigate tough moments, and I think people in relationships who can joke and tease their way through awkward or tense situations show signs of a healthy bond. But this film explores how that love language can turn from teasing to outright attack—and sometimes, it’s hard to tell the difference.”
“I love British wit and these two are at the pinnacle of that,” he says. “They make it look so easy – and being funny is hard. It’s hitting something so undefinable and unscientific. But it comes naturally to them, like a sixth sense.”
The seeds bloomed once the brilliantly barbed mind of screenwriter Tony McNamara (Poor Things, ‘The Great’) signed on. He’s known for his razor-sharp wit and emotionally layered storytelling, with previous credits including The Favourite, Poor Things, and the series The Great. His style blends satire with sincerity, making him a perfect match for this reimagining of The War of the Roses.
By setting the story in today’s world, McNamara knew he could explore deeper issues—not just about relationships, but about the external pressures society imposes on them.
“Today’s world is different from the ’60s or ’70s. Economically, life was a little easier,” McNamara says. “There were fewer messages telling people they had to be special. You could live a good, happy life—and if marriage and kids worked out, that was enough. But for Theo and Ivy, as artists today, the pressure is different. The capitalist system pulls at people, pulls them apart. It’s not great for a happy marriage.”
McNamara believes one of the best things about being a screenwriter is seeing your words brought to life by the people playing the characters you have spent so long imagining in your head. When it came to The Roses, that first day on set was perhaps one of the best.
Says McNamara of the pair of actors, “You never know what the chemistry is going to be like – no matter who the actors are. But then, in their first scene, we were like, ‘Oh my God, they feel like they’ve been married for so long.’ They had such a connection and rhythm. It felt incredible.”
Cumberbatch says this is why The Roses is such an honest film, born of genuine life experience. He adds, “really, it’s about two people who love each other but are dysfunctional in and of themselves and hit a massive, massive bump. Amongst all the fun and games, it’s heartbreaking.”
Colman smiles, “Yes, it has been lots of fun, hating each other. There’s something rather therapeutic about getting to be utterly horrible to someone, and then having a good laugh about it later.”
Just as Theo and Ivy’s home is unforgettable, so is the film’s story, one that will prompt reflection and discussion—some uncomfortable, some uplifting, but all of them honest.
“By the end of our first read-through, although everyone was laughing through the early parts of it,” says Roach. “It became clear to everyone how deeply tragic and heartbreaking it all is.”
He continues, “When we finished, Benedict said to me, ‘I hope this film causes every person watching it to turn to their partner and say, Wow, we need to talk honestly and drop the surface stuff, because if we don’t, we might misunderstand each other. We might stop giving each other the benefit of the doubt.’ And I think that is the real magic of any relationship. Once you lose that, you’re on a slippery slope.”
Most important for McNamara, meanwhile, is that audiences also identify with the challenges Theo and Ivy face in the film. “I want people to root for Theo and Ivy to be together but recognize how difficult that is. I don’t think as an audience you want them to suddenly be nice to each other.”
Fun very much sits at the center of this story, humor in all its many guises. “People can expect wit in all its incarnations in this: dry wit, acerbic wit, warm wit, wet wit,” says McKinnon. “It is hilarious and subtle and the real unravelling of a real love that should have been.”
For Cumberbatch, the process of making THE ROSES was one that will live long in his memory, particularly as it has seen him finally get to work so closely with someone he has admired for so long.
“Olivia is a treasure, but let’s put that aside,” he says. “She has been a lot of fun to work with. She’s an amazing collaborator with this lovely, joyous upbeat energy, which I would be exhausted by having to exert. It’s just who she is. She’s like that through and through. And, as an actress, she has this unique range between comedy and tragedy. It’s effortless for her.”
The love between the two runs both ways, which is somewhat ironic given the hateful madness their characters will ultimately descend into. “No, the irony of that is not lost on me, either,” Colman says. “It’s strange making a movie with someone you love so much where you get to be so horrendous and nasty to them all day. But that’s what this film is. It’s about the highs and lows of a relationship and everything in between. Human mess in all its glory and shit.”
The Roses is a film that, like a marriage itself maybe, goes through every emotional possible. Often at the same time.
“We wanted to make a very smart adult comedy that goes dark. And I feel like there haven’t been that many of those for a while,” says McNamara. “And we wanted to make a really good comedy about marriage that also had a good heart about how hard that is. We wanted to make something that people could relate to. I know we all did.”
Life seems idyllic for Ivy (Olivia Colman) and Theo (Benedict Cumberbatch)—a couple with thriving careers, a loving marriage, and a picture-perfect family. But beneath the polished surface simmers a storm of ambition, envy, and emotional sabotage. As Theo’s professional dreams unravel and Ivy’s culinary empire rises, their relationship becomes a battleground of passive-aggressive warfare and psychological brinkmanship. What begins as subtle tension escalates into a darkly comedic war of wills, where every gesture is loaded and every word a weapon.
Tony McNamara’s voice reshapes The Roses
He infuses the emotional architecture of the original with a satirical elegance and psychological precision that’s distinctly modern.
The 1989 film leaned into operatic chaos—emotions were explosive, physical, and often grotesque. Emotions are weaponised through dialogue in McNamara’s version. Ivy and Theo’s unravelling is less about shouting matches and more about strategic emotional sabotage, delivered with biting wit and simmering tension.
McNamara’s hallmark is dialogue that dances between cruelty and vulnerability. In The Roses, lines like “You are a bottomless pit of need” aren’t just insults—they’re emotional diagnostics, revealing the characters’ deepest insecurities. This creates a rhythm where humor and heartbreak coexist, making the emotional stakes feel both absurd and painfully real.
Ivy’s rise as a successful chef and Theo’s professional collapse invert traditional power dynamics. McNamara uses this shift to explore resentment born from admiration, and intimacy eroded by envy. The characters aren’t caricatures—they’re emotionally complex, with motivations that feel grounded in contemporary anxieties about identity, success, and partnership.
The rose, once a symbol of romantic decay, now becomes a metaphor for emotional duality—beauty laced with thorns. McNamara leans into this by crafting scenes that are visually lush but emotionally jagged.
Tony McNamara is a celebrated Australian playwright, screenwriter, and television producer known for his razor-sharp wit and emotionally layered storytelling. He initially pursued careers in catering and finance before a transformative visit to Rome inspired him to become a writer. He studied writing at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology and screenwriting at the Australian Film, Television and Radio School.
McNamara began his career in theatre, gaining recognition for plays like The Café Latte Kid and The John Wayne Principle, which showcased his flair for satirical dialogue and psychological nuance. He transitioned to television with acclaimed Australian series such as The Secret Life of Us, Love My Way, and Puberty Blues, before making his film debut with The Rage in Placid Lake (2003), which he also directed.
His international breakthrough came with The Favourite (2018), co-written with Deborah Davis, earning him an Academy Award nomination and establishing his signature blend of historical settings and modern irreverence. He followed this with The Great (2020–2023), a Hulu series starring Elle Fanning and Nicholas Hoult, based on his earlier stage play about Catherine the Great.
McNamara’s recent works include Poor Things (2023), which earned him another Oscar nomination, and The Roses (2025), a satirical reimagining of The War of the Roses. He’s also scripting upcoming projects like Avengelyne and a Star Wars film with Taika Waititi.
Jay Roach is an acclaimed American filmmaker whose career spans sharp-witted comedies and politically charged dramas. He studied economics at Stanford University before earning an MFA in film production from USC. His breakout came with the Austin Powers trilogy (1997–2002), which showcased his knack for stylised absurdity and pop-culture satire. He followed with box office hits like Meet the Parents (2000) and Meet the Fockers (2004), cementing his reputation in comedy.
Roach later pivoted to more serious fare, directing Recount (2008), Game Change (2012), and All the Way (2016)—political dramas that earned him multiple Primetime Emmy Awards and a Golden Globe. His film Trumbo (2015), starring Bryan Cranston, and Bombshell (2019), starring Charlize Theron and Margot Robbie, further demonstrated his ability to blend entertainment with social critique.
