Review: ‘100 Nights of Hero’ is gorgeous and campy yet frustratingly empty
2025 / Dir. Julia Jackman
☆ 3/5
Watch if you like: a toned-down cross between But I’m a Cheerleader and The Favourite with the aesthetics of The Love Witch.
In 100 Nights of Hero, magnificent costume, set design, and a lightly campy vibe dominate, while everything else doesn’t make quite as much of an impression. Still, this pseudo-fantasy take on One Thousand and One Nights is overall a fun watch that I wish had just pushed its story further to take advantage of the unique world it creates.
In a fantastical medieval world with three differently colored moons, the citizens worship Birdman (Richard E. Grant doing a cheap cosplay version of his “old” Loki character) who detests their creation by his daughter and imposes a bunch of arbitrary rules, such as women can’t read. His followers wear absurd bird regalia, including skeletal beaks over their faces. Unfortunately this is about the extent we get of this mythology, but at least it’s all fun to look at. Falling prey to these rules is Cherry (Maika Monroe) whose husband has yet to consummate the marriage, and the Bird priests are getting impatient waiting for a child to be born of the marriage, giving Cherry 100 days to get pregnant or be put to death. At least she has a number of architecturally impressive dresses and hats to rock.
To make matters worse, her husband departs for an indeterminate amount of time while the clock is ticking, while making a bet with his rakish bro, Manfred (Nicholas Galitzine, Bottoms), that his wife will remain chaste waiting for him to return. If she doesn’t, Manfred will take the castle. Either way, Cherry will likely be put to death for adultery or failure to bear a son. Enter Cherry’s maid, Hero (Emma Corrin, The Crown, Nosferatu), who makes a plan to interrupt with a story whenever Cherry’s about to fall for Manfred’s oversized machismo.
The premise would be a great setup for an anthology fantasy series, but Hero only tells one story to Cherry and Manfred of Rosa (Charli XCX) and her sisters who secretly know how to read… and that’s about it. The story is too obvious a mirror to Cherry’s situation without anything else to really give aside from watching Charli XCX play an oversized fantasy lute. There’s only enough plot in the story for a short segment and nothing to hook the audience to want to return to it time and time again.
That doesn’t leave a lot for the main plot either, which seems to be mainly buying time until the 100 nights are up. Fortunately, Galitzine steals many of the scenes he’s in as Manfred, breaking out every sleazy playboy trick in the book, including ridiculously returning shirtless covered in blood carrying a stag head after his daily hunt. Hero and Manfred get to spar a bit over Cherry’s attention, but Corrin and Monroe, like Charli XCX in the side story, also don’t have a lot to grab onto. The playful, campy tone helps to make this middle section fun to watch, even if there are missed opportunities to push the camp and absurdity further, or expand on the most basic “Feminism 101” message that women should be able to read.
Queer and artsy teenagers just beginning their media consumption journey may find a lot to love in 100 Nights of Hero, as will many others thanks to its sapphic fairytale foundation and incredible production design. This is a world you want to get lost in, but there’s not much to keep you there. It’s like building a beautiful-looking house and not having enough money for furniture: from the outside you can appreciate the craftsmanship, but there’s nowhere on the inside to rest your weary behind.