100 Nights of Hero is the new film every teenage girl should watch

100 Nights of Hero, filmmaker Julia Jackman’s second feature, is a cool, feminist fable in an Alice in Wonderland-esque setting that turns traditional fairytales on their head.

It’s stuffed with hot young stars, including Emma Corrin, Longlegs’ Maika Monroe, Nicholas Galitzine and Charli XCX in one of three upcoming films as she looks to take Hollywood by storm.

But this historical fantasy movie has a lot to (stylishly) say about and against societal convention in a way that will particularly chime with women and the queer community.

Based on Isabel Greenberg’s graphic novel – itself a take on Middle Eastern folktale One Thousand and One Nights – the story concerns Cherry (Monroe) who, once upon a time in an alternate kingdom, has been married to the handsome Jerome (Amir El-Masry).

But the newlywed couple is yet to conceive an all-important heir, perturbing the deity Bird Man (Richard E Grant in an enjoyably niche cameo) and the patriarchal society that rules over them.

So they are given 101 nights to get pregnant. If they fail, the blame firmly lies with the innocent Cherry as we clock from the amusingly dark stained glass windows warning of past female sins such as being barren, unfaithful or lesbian – while of course the sole man shown is commemorated, literally, as ‘the exception’.

Meanwhile, Jerome’s dashing friend Manfred (Galitzine) arrives, with the two men throwing everything into chaos in a way that will multiply Cherry’s problems.

But Cherry’s devoted maid Hero (Corrin) sniffs out potential danger for her mistress, protecting her from Manfred by spinning enchanting stories each night, in a soothing voice, of a defiant group of sisters – including Charli XCX as Rosa, not particularly stretching herself – who insist on living by their own rules.

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100 Nights of Hero is a gothic-tinged fantasy, like a cross between The Handmaid’s Tale and Poor Things in terms of its atmosphere, design – there’s a gorgeously bold colour palette and avant-garde costuming – and themes.

It’s also enjoyably horny in its exploration of desire. Galitzine’s Manfred is flashy and unsubtle, asking for a tour of the, um, ‘architecture’ of Cherry’s bedroom and hunting a stag topless to bring the spoils back for her, covered in blood. 

But he’s also pouty and good-humoured, a reasonably harmless himbo.

Meanwhile Corrin’s Hero is a whip-smart, amusing character who shares a sweet chemistry with Monroe’s Cherry as they plot to keep themselves safe from the underwhelming men trying to control their lives while the tension between them builds.

Jackman has created an off-beat, deadpan film tying meaning and whimsy together smoothly, narrated by a spiky Felicity Jones.

While addressing some pretty dark topics such as misogyny at its heart, everything is done with a light touch, such as the inefficient masked guards around the castle who are more invested in their mistress’s private life than offering any kind of security.

Meanwhile Cherry is inspired by these stories to understand she could perhaps live a life of choice, as she realises: ‘I was supposed to get married, have children, do needlepoint and die, I guess.’

100 Nights of Hero is the quirky and queer offering that shows independent filmmaking continues to live and thrive artistically beyond the bounds and strictures of big-budget studio movies.

100 Nights of Hero premiered on September 6 at the Settimana Internazionale della Critica section of Venice Film Festival. It is set to close London Film Festival on October 19, with a US release date of December 5.

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