100 Nights Of Hero

In spite of the boom in genre cinema and studios’ discovery that the public loves the fabulous, we don’t see many actual fables on the silver screen these days. 100 Nights Of Hero is an oddity, a tale about storytelling presented as a story. It’s neatly structured, witty and sometimes sexy, but doesn’t always succeed in achieving its goals. How it’s going to go down with the public is anyone’s guess.

The titular Hero, played by Emma Corrin, is a woman with a secret. She may have a humble station in living, serving as a maid to noblewoman Cherry (Maika Monroe), but unlike others of her sex in the pseudo-Medieval society that they inhabit, she can read and write. This is a secret she has to guard carefully, as it could cost her her life, but she is able to make use to help her mistress, who also happens to be the object of her love.

Cherry is pure, obedient, meets her society’s standard of beauty and is good at falconry and chess (but still willing to let men win) – everything she’s supposed to be. She has high hopes upon marrying Jerome (Amie El-Masry), but it soon becomes clear that he hasn’t the least interest in sleeping with her (it will be clear to viewers that his interests lie in another direction). What’s more, he doesn’t seem to know his way around a turkey baster, nor to have any concern for her predicament – if she is found to be barren, the clergy will punish her severely. Instead, he hopes to ruin her. To this end, he recruits less wealthy nobleman Manfred (Nicholas Galitzine) and bets him that he can’t seduce her if left in the castle as a guest for 100 nights whilst he goes away on business.

Viewers who do not find Manfred attractive will just have to bear with this. Cherry’s attraction to him is very clear, and unaccustomed as she is to even the clumsiest forms of flirtation, she finds herself struggling to resist. This is where Hero comes in. By arrangement, whenever Cherry finds herself tempted, she distracts her with a story. One of the stories, delivered episodically, follows three sisters whose father teaches them to read, and who find themselves in danger as a result.

It’s a heavy-handed feminist film, even for today, when heavy-handed arguments in the other direction are becoming commonplace. The notion of a league of secret storytellers has a certain charm, however, and the capable central cast have fun exploring the limits of the intentionally formal structure. Some of the supporting players prove less capable, alas, and this leads to stretches where the film meanders aimlessly, becoming dull. The sexual tension between Cherry and Manfred is amusing but there is, sadly, a lot less chemistry between Corrin and Monroe, where it’s really needed. This makes it difficult to invest emotionally in the third act even if one likes the idea of it.

Where the film succeeds is in the visual design of its world, whose inhabitants worship a bird god (Richard E Grant). There’s appealing costume design by Susie Coulthard, and Tatyana Jinto Ratherston’s set design elegantly brings Isabel Greenberg’s novel to life. With the comedy drama a bit hit and miss, however, your feelings about the film are ultimately likely to depend on how susceptible you are to charm yourself.

Reviewed on: 06 Feb 2026