100 Nights of Hero Review: BFI LFF 2025

Emma Corrin and Nicholas Galitzine are trying to win hearts and minds in adult fairytale 100 Nights of Hero

100 Nights of Hero is the second feature film from British director Julia Jackman, her debut, high school romcom Bonus Track having done well at the 2023 London Film Festival. A queer, feminist, original fairy tale, it’s adapted from a graphic novel by Isabel Greenberg.

In a kingdom lit by three moons there is strife between husband Jerome (Amir El-Masry) and wife Cherry (Maika Monroe) who are struggling to conceive a baby in a land where childlessness has serious consequences. When handsome houseguest Manfred (Nicholas Galitzine) comes to stay he and Jerome argue about Cherry’s devotion to her husband, and Jerome makes a wager with Manfred. He will leave the two of them alone together in the castle for 100 nights to see if Cherry will remain faithful to him. He wages his entire fortune on the belief that she will not allow herself to by seduced by another man.

While Manfred goes about trying to woo Cherry, her maid Hero (Emma Corrin) tries her best to protect her virtue by distracting Manfred with stories whenever he starts to get too close. She tells the tale of Rose (Charlie XCX) a woman who dared to break the rules by learning to read – earning her the wrath of their patriarchal society and a place in history as an alleged witch.

Hero isn’t just a gifted story teller, she’s a magical one. Whenever she starts to speak those who listen get lost in time, days passing by without them even noticing, until the 100 nights are absolutely flying by. But what starts out as a devoted servant wanting to protect her mistress soon morphs into something else, for Hero has romantic designs of her own on Cherry – ones that might just be reciprocated.

A refreshingly original sapphic fable that centres women in a film about the power of stories to change the world, 100 Nights of Hero is like nothing I’ve ever seen before. It’s wryly funny yet takes itself and its style 100% seriously, going all in on a feverish, Terry Gilliam-esque fantasy. Corrin is marvellous as the titular Hero, steely and sardonic at turns, effortlessly romantic at others. Galitzine is again an absolute campy hoot, coincidentally turning in his second performance as a jock getting in between a lesbian love story (Bottoms anyone?) Monroe is given rather less to do, though plays the innocent and vulnerable Cherry with ethereal grace.

The whole thing is just a little devoid of magic – and by that I don’t mean that stories like this automatically need witches or otherworldly creatures – just that there should be an element of ineffable fantasy about it. 100 Nights of Hero, which styles itself so heavily on fairytales, tells us it’s themes and messages so plainly and literally that is feels very grounded in reality for a film that’s meant to be transportative. With some clunky elements, we can far too often see the gears turning.

The costumes are absolutely stunning, but the production design looks cheap and unimaginative, unfortunately giving the impression that the actors are just cosplaying in a castle rather than actually living in a different world. Julia Jackman clearly has creativity and daring in spades, so it would be nice to see what she could do with more money.

It’s a bold and beautiful, if somewhat uneven second feature from this promising director. 100 Nights of Hero is one of the most unique films you’ll see this year, a subversive fairytale that for once genuinely is about the empowerment of women – there’s no waiting around for Prince Charming to save the day here.

100 Nights of Hero is playing as part of the BFI London Film Festival. It will be released in UK cinemas in January 2026