Director: Julia Jackman
Writer: Julia Jackman
Stars: Emma Corrin, Nicholas Galitzine, Maika Monroe
Synopsis: A young bride named Cherry lives in a remote castle with her neglectful husband, Jerome, and their faithful maid, Hero. When the charming Manfred arrives, he throws their dynamic into chaos, leading Jerome to leave Cherry alone for a hundred days to test her fidelity.
It’s taken me a few days to actually sit down and write this review of Julia Jackman’s 100 Nights of Hero. I wanted to be totally sure of my feelings on the film before typing things out because there’s so much I liked about it, but other parts which I found put a stop to what could’ve been something great.
Based on the graphic novel “The One Hundred Nights of Hero” by Isabel Greenberg, which itself was based on the Middle Eastern folktale “One Thousand and One Nights, 100 Nights of Hero” is a trippy, beautiful romantic fantasy centered on Cherry (Maika Monroe). She lives in this sort of medieval world whose sky has three moons and where humans worship the deity known as Birdman (Richard E. Grant). As weird as that may sound, it turns out this world isn’t all that different from our own.
Cherry faces growing pressure from the rich relatives of her husband Jerome (Amir El-Masry) to produce a male heir, as women are seen as lesser in this society and aren’t even allowed to read or write. She leans on her maid and confidant Hero (Emma Corrin) for support against a husband who is indifferent to her. Hero, secretly a storyteller, gives Cherry an escape from reality and provides hope that maybe things don’t have to be this way. It’s maddening, because if Jerome truly loved Cherry, he’d be providing that, but this is part of where the relatability of writer/director Julia Jackman’s script comes from. Women in real life have had to keep going in a seemingly never ending fight of being held down and forced to conform to societal norms by the patriarchy all while longing to do more.
Instead of supporting his wife, Jerome leaves her with a mysterious stranger, Manfred (Nicholas Galitzine) and places Cherry at the center of a bizarre contest over her fidelity. Too often, I’ve found that men will do just about anything rather than listen to their partners while still holding all the power and that’s the case with Jerome. What he exhibits isn’t love, but rather a classic case of men treating their partners like toys just because they can. Jerome knows the kind of pressure Cherry is under to have a son and doesn’t care because if she doesn’t, as he can simply find another wife.
Meanwhile, Cherry just wants to be a good wife and mother while also being loved by someone. That’s all she’s been taught to do and it takes Hero to make her realize that perhaps there is more to life than what she knows. You see Cherry come out of her shell throughout 100 Nights of Hero and it’s really awesome to witness because Maika Monroe can really showcase her character’s emotional evolution through facial expressions, tonal shifts, or even a quick look. You can feel Cherry’s desire, her kindness, and, ultimately, the love she develops as the film goes on through Monroe’s performance.
Cherry can’t very well be a good wife with a hilarious oaf like Manfred breathing down her neck in an effort to get her to sleep with him, which is why she turns to Hero to distract Manfred with the tale of Rosa (Charli XCX) and her sisters. That story does more than take Manfred’s mind elsewhere though, it also opens Cherry up to new possibilities.
In a bit of a surprise, Charli XCX impressed me with her brief but pivotal turn as Rosa. She commands the screen and honestly this makes me want to see her in a more substantial role. Though Corrin, Monroe, and Galitzine are tremendous, this film’s most heartbreaking moment comes from the pop star turned actress. I give her all the credit in the world for making me see Rosa as opposed to Charli.
There’s a real passion beyond Jackson’s storytelling as she tells two stories which have similar themes. We see parallels between Rosa and Cherry throughout the film and get to see just how powerful stories can be when it comes to inspiring people to do more, but how they can change the world around them. This historical fairy tale is filled with harsh realities and ultimately a sense of hope and I give Jackson a lot of credit for finding the right tonal balance throughout the film.
Jackson’s script also combines with some truly divine cinematography from Xenia Patricia to create a fantastical, dreamy atmosphere. You get the sense that this is a grounded world but at any moment, the color palette can shift to something more magical and trippy, signaling the changeover to Hero’s story. These visuals will captivate you, calling to mind the styles of Wes Anderson and Emerald Fennell while having their own unique flair.
Where 100 Nights of Hero runs into a bit of trouble comes back to the screenplay. For as much good as Julia Jackman does, she still seems to hold the viewer at arms length. There isn’t as much depth given to this world or even our main players if we’re being honest. We are given just enough so that what we see throughout the film makes sense, from how this world works to why these characters ultimately end up at their end points, but Jackman never allows us to fully connect with them. There’s not enough meat on this screenplay’s bones which makes it seem like it was made for teenagers or young adults at most. Its marketing and actual content skewers towards an audience in their twenties ala Saltburn, and yet Jackson doesn’t give any real depth to her religious metaphors, character decisions, or how this world with fantastical elements really works. There’s a voiceover to kind of explain things, but nothing more. From that point on, the story just happens and whether or not it works for you depends on how much you enjoy everything else.
100 Nights of Hero is a fascinating fairy tale with powerful themes. Even though it could use more depth in several areas, the bare bones of this story should be enough for audiences to enjoy as they ponder how much societal norms have shifted when it comes to women and the work that still needs to be done.
