“The Roses” Twists Romance into a Beautiful Heartbreak – Love in Bloom or Ruin?

Release Date: August 29, 2025
Premiere: World premiere in Venice, followed by a limited release in select cities before global rollout

A Garden of Secrets: When Romance Isn’t What It Seems

Romantic dramas often promise comfort, soft lighting, sweeping music, and the inevitable kiss under the stars. But The Roses, set to release on August 29, 2025, dares to dig deeper. Beneath its elegant title and lush visuals lies a story that blooms with passion but wilts with secrets. It’s not just a love story, it’s a slow-burning revelation of what happens when love is built on illusion.

Directed by acclaimed filmmaker Celeste Marlowe, known for her emotionally layered storytelling (Winter’s Letter, The Quiet Side), The Roses follows the seemingly perfect relationship between Elise and Jonah, played by Oscar nominee Lily James and rising star Jacob Elordi. Their romance begins in a sun-drenched countryside estate, surrounded by roses, symbolic of their blooming affection. But as petals fall, so do the masks they wear.

The twist? Their love story is being written in real time, by Elise herself, a novelist struggling to separate fiction from reality. As the lines blur, the audience is left wondering: is Jonah real, or just a character she’s created to escape her past?

This narrative device turns The Roses into a psychological romance, where every tender moment is tinged with doubt, and every declaration of love might be a lie.

Premiere Spotlight: Venice Unveils a New Kind of Romance

The world premiere of The Roses took place at the Venice Film Festival on August 25, a fitting stage for a film that blends classic romantic aesthetics with modern emotional complexity. The red carpet event is expected to draw major attention, with Lily James and Jacob Elordi walking alongside director Celeste Marlowe and composer Alexandre Desplat, who crafted the film’s hauntingly beautiful score.

Following Venice, the film will have a limited release in New York, Paris, and Sydney before its global rollout on August 29. Critics attending early screenings have described it as “a romantic drama that seduces, then devastates,” and “a masterclass in emotional storytelling with a Hitchcockian twist.”

The premiere will also feature a live orchestral performance of the film’s theme, “Petals in the Rain,” and an interactive art installation that recreates Elise’s writing room, complete with pages torn from her fictional love story.

Romance Reimagined: Themes That Cut Through the Petals

While The Roses may appear to be a traditional romance on the surface, its thematic depth sets it apart. Marlowe’s screenplay doesn’t just explore love, it interrogates it. What does it mean to love someone who may not be real? Can fiction heal, or does it only delay the inevitable truth?

Here are the core themes the film explores:

• The Illusion of Love: Elise’s relationship with Jonah is idealized, poetic, and cinematic but it’s also suspiciously perfect. The film asks whether we fall in love with people, or with the idea of them.
• Memory and Grief: As Elise writes, fragments of her past begin to surface, loss, betrayal, and a trauma she’s buried beneath prose. The roses become a metaphor not just for love, but for remembrance.
• Art as Escape: Elise’s writing is both her salvation and her prison. The film explores how creativity can be a refuge, but also a dangerous place to hide from reality.
• Emotional Authenticity: Jonah’s character challenges Elise to confront her own emotional dishonesty. Whether he’s real or imagined, his presence forces her to ask: what do I truly feel, and what am I afraid to admit?

Visually, the film is stunning, soft golden hues, candlelit rooms, and sweeping shots of rose gardens that feel both romantic and eerie. The cinematography by Emmanuel Lubezki creates a dreamlike atmosphere that mirrors Elise’s psychological descent.

Final Verdict: A Romance That Hurts So Beautifully

The Roses is not a film that offers easy answers or tidy resolutions. It’s a cinematic poem, delicate, haunting, and emotionally raw. Lily James delivers a career-defining performance, balancing fragility with fierce introspection. Jacob Elordi is magnetic, his portrayal of Jonah shifting between tender and enigmatic with every scene.

Celeste Marlowe’s direction is masterful, guiding the audience through layers of emotion and ambiguity without ever losing control. The pacing is deliberate, allowing each revelation to land with impact. The score by Alexandre Desplat is a character in itself melancholic, romantic, and quietly devastating.

But what truly makes The Roses unforgettable is its honesty. It doesn’t pretend that love is always beautiful. It shows how love can be a mirror, a mask, and sometimes, a wound. It’s a film that will leave audiences breathless, reflective, and perhaps a little heartbroken.

Join the Conversation

Have you ever loved someone who only existed in your mind? Can fiction be more truthful than reality?

Share your thoughts, theories, and favourite moments from The Roses once it premieres. Because in this story, every petal tells a secret and every secret changes everything.

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