Maika Monroe cemented herself as the go-to indie ‘scream queen’ over a decade ago with her breakthrough in It Follows, and has furthered this reputation with more recent turns in Watcher and Longlegs. Whilst her leading role in Julia Jackman’s sophomore feature 100 Nights of Hero is a departure from the traditions of this genre, there’s something to be said about the horrors of female oppression in this folk fantasy fairytale.
Based on Isabel Greenberg’s graphic novel of the same name, it centres around noblewoman Cherry (Monroe) who is given 101 nights to conceive an heir. As her cowardly husband Jerome (Amir El-Masry) abruptly leaves, her friendship with devoted maid Hero (Emma Corrin) develops and hunky houseguest Manfred (Nicholas Galitzine) arrives at their castle.
Set in a heightened medieval reality, the film has the slightly stilted tone of a Yorgos Lanthimos picture paired with a quirky pop-palette aesthetic. Costumes and production design are absurd yet impeccably styled, giving a surreal landscape for Jackman’s script to unravel upon. In this ultra-patriarchal world, women are forbidden from literacy but not from storytelling, opening the door to a vivid tale within a tale. Hero passionately regales Cherry with ‘The Story of the Dancing Stones’, a powerful fable that runs parallel to the main plot, deepening their relationship and spurning the advances of Manfred who opts for brawn over brains in his attempts at seduction.
Timid in the beginning but growing in strength throughout, Monroe gives a smartly understated performance which makes room for the bigger personalities around her. Galitzine is in delightfully over-the-top form, a brilliantly brash opposite to the protagonist. In the pivotal, titular role of Hero, Emma Corrin is great. Their character is central to the film’s messaging, symbolic of its empowering spirit. A highlight from the supporting cast is pop icon turned actor Charli XCX; she plays Rosa who is the key figure in the aforementioned nested narrative. Her main-character-energy translates well to the silver screen, and this won’t be the last of her foray into cinema.
Playing in heavy themes but with a light touch, Julia Jackman’s adaptation of this period queer romance is easy on the eye, sharply satirical, and a lot of fun. It gives Maika Monroe a well-earned rest from guttural screaming and running from crazed psychopaths but in 100 Nights of Hero, the villain is the patriarchy itself, and that is far scarier.
Cinema Perspective 