The Roses Parent Guide

Ten years into their marriage, transplanted Brits Theo and Ivy Rose (Benedict Cumberbatch and Olivia Colman) have built a comfortable life in California. Theo designs iconic buildings and Ivy has set aside her cooking career to raise their kids. Believing the time is right, Theo encourages Ivy to take a chance on a small restaurant, which she opens on a part-time basis.

One stormy night, everything turns upside down. Theo’s career is in tatters and Ivy’s restaurant rockets to overnight success. Now Theo is the stay-at-home parent and Ivy is the star. Can their marriage weather the change?

If you’ve seen the trailer or The War of the Roses (the 1989 film on which this is based), you’ll know that the answer is “no”. Act One sets up the happy marriage; Act Two shows how Theo and Ivy’s marriage cracks under the load of loss, resentment, and selfishness; and Act Three devolves into hatred and violence as Theo and Ivy fight over the house he designed and she funded.

When I say violence, I don’t mean verbal sparring and tantrum-throwing. This divorcing couple go after each other with guns and knives, ruthlessly sabotage each other’s businesses, deliberately trigger anaphylaxis, and set fire to treasured possessions. Honestly, I don’t find domestic violence, criminal sabotage, or attempted murder amusing. It’s dangerous and deranged and deeply depressing to witness.

The violence isn’t the only negative content of note – the movie also features casual sex between virtual strangers and crude sexual conversations. In addition, there are several scenes of main characters becoming intoxicated, smoking weed, and being stoned. Add in over 110 profanities, including at least sixty sexual expletives and some crude terms for female genitalia, and this movie richly deserves its Restricted rating.

Given the story’s toxic relationship and bleak trajectory, I don’t think there’s any way to make it into a movie I would enjoy. If there were, it would be with Benedict Cumberbatch and Olivia Colman at the helm. As much as I dislike this film, I must admit that these two turn in fine performances. This is a story that could easily turn into scenery-chewing farce. But both Cumberbatch and Colman imbue their characters with grief, hurt, despair, and vulnerability to go along with their rage and hatred. Perhaps that makes it harder to watch: if this show only involved cardboard characters hurling knives and insults at one another, it wouldn’t hurt so much. And maybe the pain we feel at the demise of a marriage and destruction of a family is the point: given the tragedy, we’re not supposed to enjoy it.

About author

Kirsten Hawkes

Kirsten Hawkes has a BA in Political Science and English and has worked in international development and medical education and marketing. Kirsten enjoys reading, watching movies, and debating politics with her husband and sometimes unwilling children.