Rosebush Pruning

"People are roses. Families are rosebushes. Rosebushes need pruning."

2026 1h 35m EN

😐

6.0

MID

🥫

16%

ROTTEN

😬

METACRITIC

★6.0TMDB · 60🥫16%Rotten Tomatoes●47Metacritic

ComedyDramaThriller

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

When an American heir living in a luxurious Spanish villa decides to move in with his girlfriend, his departure triggers a family collapse as his brother uncovers the truth behind their mother's tragic death.

“People are roses. Families are rosebushes. Rosebushes need pruning.”

WhatsApp X Facebook Telegram

Where to watch · US

MUBISubscription

MUBI Amazon ChannelSubscription

Cast

Callum Turner
Ed
Riley Keough
Anna
Jamie Bell
Jack
Lukas Gage
Robert
Tracy Letts
Father
Elle Fanning
Martha
Pamela Anderson
Mother
Elena Anaya
Emma

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Karim Aïnouz
Writers: Efthimis Filippou, Marco Bellocchio
Languages: English
Countries: Germany, Italy, United Kingdom, Spain, Canada, Brazil, France

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Released this year — you're seeing it while it's still in the cultural conversation.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

International production across 7 countries: Germany, Italy, United Kingdom, Spain, Canada, Brazil, France.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Karim Aïnouz, shot by Hélène Louvart. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Matthew Herbert. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Heike Parplies shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Callum Turner and Riley Keough and Jamie Bell carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "People are roses. Families are rosebushes. Rosebushes need pruning.".

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt27844906 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Karim Aïnouz directs. Hélène Louvart behind the camera. Matthew Herbert scores. Heike Parplies cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Produced in Germany, Italy, United Kingdom, Spain, Canada, Brazil, France. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Released this year — you're seeing it while it's still in the cultural conversation.
2International production across 7 countries: Germany, Italy, United Kingdom, Spain, Canada, Brazil, France.
3Directed by Karim Aïnouz, shot by Hélène Louvart. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
4Original score by Matthew Herbert. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
5Editor Heike Parplies shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
6Callum Turner and Riley Keough and Jamie Bell carry the top of the cast.
7Marketing tagline: "People are roses. Families are rosebushes. Rosebushes need pruning.".
8IMDB entry: tt27844906 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
9Only 60 TMDB ratings — you're getting ahead of the curve on this one.

The technical file

Cinematography: Hélène Louvart
Original score: Matthew Herbert
Editing: Heike Parplies
Production design: Rodrigo Martirena
Costume design: Bina Daigeler
Makeup / hair: Barbara Kreuzer
Sound: Frank Kruse
Runtime: 95 min · 1h 35m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Box office: $85,294
Original language: EN
Certification (US): NR
IMDB: Rosebush Pruning (2026)
Rotten Tomatoes: 16% 🥫 Rotten
Metacritic: 47/100

Awards

1 nomination total

Also by

Karim Aïnouz

Stills · wallpapers

Selected frames

Full-resolution frames — open one to save it as a wallpaper.

Wallpaper

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

Community reviews

What people are saying

Martin Oaks2026-08-31
★ 5/10
The collapse of an ephemeral dynasty Under the scorching sun of a luxurious Catalonia villa, four American siblings live in hedonistic isolation, squandering their immense fortune. Carefree and oblivious to the outside world, they ignore the demands of their strict, visually impaired patriarch, seeking validation solely through pop music, incestuous obsessions, and haute couture fashion. The fragile equilibrium of this superficial dynasty fractures when Jack, the eldest brother and the group's linchpin, announces his plans to move out with his new girlfriend, Martha. The intrusion of this outsider cuts their ties of codependency, driving one sibling to unearth the dark secrets surrounding their mother's suspicious death. From that moment on, generational lies collapse, and the family spirals into violent self-destruction under the premise that, much like rosebusps, families sometimes need radical pruning. "Rosebush Pruning" is an uncomfortable sociopolitical satire in which Karim Aïnouz uses a suffocating Mediterranean landscape to dissect the moral rot and existential vacuum of opulence. Hélène Louvart milks the saturation of the Catalan light to create a magnetic contrast between the scenic beauty of the surroundings and the inner ugliness of the characters. The screenplay by Efthimis Filippou (who freely reimagines Marco Bellocchio's classic, and is a frequent collaborator on Yorgos Lanthimos's films) injects that characteristic dark, absurd, and surreal humor that unsettles the audience by portraying the total disconnect of the wealthy. Unfortunately, the film repeatedly trips over itself in its eagerness to shock. It often prioritizes cheap thrills-gratuitously flirting with incest and psychological violence-instead of digging deeper into a social critique that is actually biting or original. This fixation on provocation, paired with a pacing that stalls in repetitive subplots, saps the tension just when the story cries out for a rising climax. Ultimately, lacking an emotional anchor or a relatable character to root for, the film feels cold, detached, and trapped in its own misanthropy. While "Rosebush Pruning" is certainly an interesting cinematic exercise, it runs the risk of being labeled a style-over-substance piece that dissolves into its own nihilism.

Production companies