Julia Jackman‘s beguiling feminist fairytale “100 Nights of Hero” is an enchanting tribute to the power of storytelling. At a time when women are losing rights and encouraged to live life in service of their husbands, it is a dazzling escape to a world that’s more peculiar than ours. Yet its warning is a familiar one: to not lose one’s voice in a world hellbent on silencing half the population. Wrapped up in fantastical costumes and colorful settings, “100 Nights of Hero” is a spectacle as much as it is a love story and a rallying cry.
Based on the book by Isabel Greenberg, “100 Nights of Hero” is a story built from a number of stories, but mainly follows Hero (Emma Corrin) and Cherry (Maika Monroe). Cherry is a gentle but loyal spirit, mostly dressed in white as if to emphasize her innocence. Despite pressure from her in-laws and the bird-worshipping religious order that rules the realm, her husband Jerome (Amie El-Masry) avoids going to bed with her, forcing her to accept all the blame for failing to produce a child, which, of course, she cannot contest.
Now in peril for their lack of progeny, Jerome leaves her alone with a dashing stranger named Manfred (Nicholas Galitzine), whose flirtatious nature does not go unnoticed, as a bet she will not cheat on him. Cherry devises a plan with her best friend, confidant, and maid, Hero, to tell a story anytime Cherry needed an escape from Manfred’s not-so-subtle advances. As Hero tells the story of Rosa (Charli XCX) and her sisters, Cherry looks for a way out of her increasingly difficult predicament.
The origins of “100 Nights of Hero” can be traced back to “1001 Arabian Nights,” and its multistory structure is just as enjoyable to follow. Jackman, who also adapted Greenberg’s book for the screen, narrows in on the story of Rosa and her sisters as a kind of cautionary parallel story about women persecuted for their abilities to read and write, which is considered witchcraft in this world. Jumping from narrative to narrative allows Jackman the freedom to play with different set designs and costumes, sometimes changing color palettes or veering into more medieval or modern styles, dipping into a scrappy, surreal, ethereal aesthetic similar to the TV show “Los Espookys.” Like Cherry’s white costumes and Hero’s unassuming outfits, the film’s use of red evokes “The Handmaid’s Tale” and “The Scarlet Letter,” a damning hue that’s a far cry from the blues, greens, and pinks of safety back in Cherry’s home.
Jackman, along with collaborators such as cinematographer Xenia Patricia, production designer Sofia Saccomani, art director Naomi Bailey, and costume designer Susie Coulthard, dives deep into creating the fanciful world of “100 Nights of Hero” and making it their own. Through a soft-focused lens, Patricia gives the film a dreamy atmosphere, transporting the audience to this strange, far, far away place. From the intricate use of lighting to outsized costumes with poufy sleeves and exaggerated collars to maximalist set design, the filmmakers conjure the kind of colorful, dramatic intrigue found in Dario Argento’s “Suspiria” and Tarsem Singh’s “The Fall.” Oliver Coates’s synth-heavy score adds to the ’80s aesthetic, as if “100 Nights of Hero” could have been picked off the shelf of a video rental store back in the day.
Monroe, who broke out in “It Follows” and recently returned to the spotlight with “Longlegs,” plays Cherry as a serene spirit in the face of almost certain doom. Her wide-eyed realization of Jerome’s deception is painfully felt. Dropping their royal airs as Princess Diana in “The Crown,” Corrin operates much like Offred in “The Handmaid’s Tale,” smarter than her station suggests. Still, this time, Hero loves Cherry—although the movie takes a very chaste view of their relationship. Their presence is that of a quiet confidant, watching over Cherry and carefully batting away Manfred when needed. Perennial charmer Galitzine took his moves from “The Idea of You” and warps them into a trap when trying to seduce Cherry to betray her husband. As Jerome, Amie El-Masry plays the part of the scheming husband with a mischievous glint in his eye, taking full advantage of his privileged status as a man.
There are several other famous names in the cast, including an underwhelming Charli XCX as Rosa and an outraged Richard E. Grant as the pompous deity known as Birdman, who demands more decency of creation. His priests, the brotherhood of the beak, ensure his will be done on earth as it is in the afterworld. Felicity Jones also makes a brief appearance as one of the moons and as an executive producer on the film.
While the world of “100 Nights of Hero” looks wildly different than our own, it draws on some very relatable heterosexual romantic issues, of men who feel threatened when their girlfriend knows more than they do or have a compulsion to rule over her. The obsession with fertility, babies, and patriarchal ownership of women’s bodies and chastity has never really gone away. Still, it seems to have renewed itself in recent years, bringing this fairytale a little closer to home.
“100 Nights of Hero” draws on a rich tradition of using storytelling as a kind of superpower, the kind that can save the one you love or find community with others. It’s swoony and exotic, with eye-popping costumes and bold colors that command the viewer’s attention, making it a surprising call to arms to continue telling women’s stories in these dark times.
