The Roses

The Roses

Year: 2025

Runtime: 1 h 45 m

Language: english

Director: Jay Roach

Echo Score: 70
Comedy

Life seems easy for picture‑perfect couple Ivy (Olivia Colman) and Theo (Benedict Cumberbatch): thriving careers, a loving marriage and great kids. Yet beneath the façade, a storm brews—Theo’s career plummets while Ivy’s ambitions surge, sparking fierce competition and simmering resentment that threatens to unravel their seemingly ideal life.

The Roses (2025) – Spoiler-Free Movie Summary & Plot Overview

Get a spoiler-free look at The Roses (2025) with a clear plot overview that covers the setting, main characters, and story premise—without revealing key twists or the ending. Perfect for deciding if this film is your next watch.

In the sun‑kissed coastal town of Mendocino, a marriage that began with a daring promise in London now balances the rhythm of daily life with the echo of unfulfilled dreams. Ivy arrived with the fire of an aspiring chef, while Theo built his future on the lines of architecture, each believing their shared ambition could shape a limitless future together.

Ten years on, the couple raises twin children, Hattie and Roy, in a home that reflects both indulgence and discipline. Ivy fills their world with sweetness and spontaneous play, creating a warm, almost whimsical environment for the kids. Theo counters with a focus on health, routine, and the meticulous order that defines his professional world. Their parenting styles, though loving, hint at the subtle push‑and‑pull of two strong personalities trying to protect the family they’ve built.

As the years unfold, the balance they once cherished begins to wobble. Success in one arena naturally shifts the household’s dynamics, prompting each partner to confront questions about identity, purpose, and the space they occupy beside one another. The film captures this delicate tension with a tone that is both intimate and contemplative, allowing the audience to feel the quiet undercurrents of admiration, envy, and longing that ripple beneath the surface of a seemingly perfect life.

The story of Ivy and Theo is a meditation on love’s resilience amid ambition, framed by the beautiful, breezy backdrop of California’s coast. It invites viewers to wonder how far two people will go to preserve the dreams that first brought them together, even as those very dreams start to reshape the very foundation of their relationship.

Last Updated: October 05, 2025 at 16:48

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Discover curated groups of movies connected by mood, themes, and story style. Browse collections built around emotion, atmosphere, and narrative focus to easily find films that match what you feel like watching right now.

Movies about ambition tearing apart a marriage like The Roses

Stories where love and career rivalry slowly poison a seemingly perfect marriage.If you liked The Roses and its exploration of career rivalry unraveling a marriage, you'll find similar stories here. This collection features films where domestic drama, midlife crises, and gender role conflicts lead to a bittersweet or tragic outcome for couples.

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Narrative Summary

These narratives typically follow a couple whose initial harmony is disrupted by diverging professional ambitions. The story unfolds as competition and resentment fester beneath a polished exterior, leading to an escalation of conflict that often results in a profound, sometimes tragic, re-evaluation of their life together.

Why These Movies?

Movies in this thread are grouped by their shared focus on the corrosive effects of ambition within a romantic partnership. They blend domestic drama with biting social commentary, often maintaining a steady pace to show the gradual decay of a relationship, and frequently end on a note of poignant regret or loss.

Bittersweet domestic tragedy movies like The Roses

Emotional stories where family life unravels with a mix of heartbreak and dark humor.Find movies similar to The Roses that blend family drama with a tragic sensibility. These stories often feature a steady pace, medium emotional weight, and explore themes like midlife crisis and parenting struggles, culminating in a sad but thoughtfully presented ending.

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Narrative Summary

The narrative pattern involves a seemingly stable family unit gradually revealing its fractures. The story follows a linear progression of life events that escalate internal conflicts, leading to an inevitable, often ironic, conclusion that underscores the fragility of domestic happiness.

Why These Movies?

These films share a specific emotional mix: they tackle heavy themes of family breakdown and loss but often through a lens of satire or wistful reflection. The pacing is deliberate, allowing the tragedy to unfold organically, and the tone consistently balances heartfelt emotion with a critical, sometimes sardonic, perspective on modern life.

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The Roses Summary

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Characters, Settings & Themes in The Roses

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