In a mythic, medieval society where strict rules govern education, marriage, fertility and fidelity, 100 Nights of Hero plays like a feminist fairytale at a moment where those in power are still desperate to rule over women’s bodies and minds alike.
Neglectful husband Jerome (Amir El-Masry) has so far avoided consummating his marriage to innocent bride Cherry (Maika Monroe), but with growing pressure to produce an heir he is given an ultimatum: if Cherry is not pregnant within one hundred days, she will be killed. When Jerome’s beguiling friend Manfred (Nicholas Galitzine) arrives to stay at their secluded castle, what begins as a bet between the men to test Cherry’s loyalty evolves into a tangled spectacle of secrets and seduction between Cherry, Manfred and the couple’s devoted housemaid and gifted storyteller, Hero (Emma Corrin).
With layered storylines traversing place and time, director Julia Jackman colours this fantastical world with supporting roles from Charli XCX, Felicity Jones and Richard E. Grant, weaving a romantic queer parable and a vivid rallying cry against meddling patriarchal authority.
– Amanda Jane Robinson
