A One Mann’s Movies review of “100 Nights of Hero” (From the 2025 London Film Festival). (2025, 3.5*, ’12A’).
If you’re going to pitch your movie into the same sort of wheelhouse as “The Princess Bride” or “Time Bandits”, then you’d better do it with conviction and not miss. Sadly, while there was a lot to like about “100 Nights of Hero”, and I can’t deny that it was a fun watch, it never quite fully leans in to the potential comedy value of the scenarios and so comes over as a bit lightweight.
This was the film featured in the closing gala of this year’s London Film Festival and my last – 45th! – review*.
(* Pending watching any others via the digital library before the end of the month!)
One Mann’s Movies Rating:
Plot:
Hero (Emma Corrin) is the maid to Cherry (Maika Monroe) and the pair have a close friendship. But when Cherry’s husband Jerome (Amir El-Masry) can’t consummate their marriage he bets that visiting hunk Manfred (Nicholas Galitzine) can’t sleep with her over a period of 100 nights: an act of adultery that would spell death for Cherry.
Certification:
UK: NR; US: PG-13. (At the time of writing the film had not received a certificate from the BBFC, but I can’t recall any strong reasons why it should not receive a 12A.)
Talent:
Starring: Maika Monroe, Emma Corrin, Nicholas Galitzine, Amir El-Masry, Christopher Fairbank, Markella Kavenagh, Cory Peterson, Safia Oakley-Green, Richard E. Grant, Josh Cowdery, Olivia D’Lima, Kerena Jagpal, Charli XCX.
Directed by: Julia Jackman.
Written by: Julia Jackman. (Based on the graphic novel by Isabel Greenberg.)
Running Time: 1h 30m.
Summary:
Positives:
- A well-crafted fantasy setting for a fairy tale.
- Some good laughs, especially from the dry comments of the masked footmen.
- Monroe and Corrin are good together.
- A touching ending.
Negatives:
- The comedy really doesn’t go for the jugular enough.
- Perhaps a spicier ’15’ certificate film would have worked better.
Full Review of “100 Nights of Hero”:
“Are you ready? Then we shall begin.”
For a fairy-tale to work on screen you need a good bit of world-building and this is something that I thought the film did fairly well. From the opening shot we see we are on a world with three moons (so 1 up on Tatooine). We even get to meet the woman, Kiddo (Safia Oakley-Green) who created the world before her father, Birdman (Richard E. Grant), sticks his big old claws all over it! As a result, we are in horribly patriarchal world where Birdman sets the rules (“So wishes Birdman”), men rule the roost (no pun intended) and women are forbidden to read or write without being charged with witchcraft.
The tale is set.
To start our story we end up back about 20 years where Agnes (Markella Kavenagh) is forced to marry a man with “very bad breath” (Cory Peterson). She is already pregnant with daughter Hero.
Spin forwards and Hero (Emma Corrin) is the maid (and “best friend”) to newly-wed Cherry (Maika Monroe). We learn that Cherry is good at falconry and chess, but not good a getting pregnant. She can’t say so to the Bird Brothers court, (who threaten pregnancy or death, in a very specific way), but the reason for this is that her husband Jerome (Amir El-Masry) – despite all his talk of his marital sexual exploits – has never been able to consummate his marriage with Cherry. (Given that Cherry is Maika Monroe, you can only assume that he must be gay!)
Arriving on the scene is Manfred (Nicholas Galitzine) and Jerome sets a “Dangerous Liaisons”-style bet with him: he has 100 nights to try to seduce Cherry while he is away on a ‘business trip’. If he succeeds he gets to keep the castle, but Cherry would immediately be put to death as an adulteress. (This bet really doesn’t make any sense in the light of day! Why would Jerome do that?)
More than just close friends.
We see Manfred trying to impress Cherry, for example – in a very funny moment – marching up the garden path, blood-soaked with a dead stag over his shoulder. This goes on and on for nearly 100 nights until Cherry starts to crack. (In what seems like a continuity error, we see Manfred at one point marking up four nights when we are already on 20?)
But throughout this time, Cherry and Hero have been getting very close. Because Jerome has never even kissed Cherry, Cherry wants some advice from Hero. In a very erotic – but tasteful – scene, Hero provides her with a lesson on the art of seduction. This is a terrific moment and I was really impressed by both Emma Corrin and Maika Monroe.
The story of the three sisters.
In this land, women are prevented from reading and writing and so storytelling is an underground activity: one that Hero partakes in. In an entertaining side-alley, we hear Hero’s story of three sisters – Caterina (Olivia D’Lima), Mina (Kerena Jagpal) and Rosa (British pop-star Charli XCX). The story recounts how they challenge the male patriarchy but become martyrs to the cause.
It’s well done and ultimately ties the themes of the overall movie together nicely, setting us up for a touching and surprising finale.
A good few chuckles but not enough.
The film made me chuckle several times and had a few good laughs as well. Much of this comes from the dry asides of the masked footmen/guards within the castle. But the script never really went for the jugular with comic intent. Perhaps Julia Jackman could have done with a collaborator on the script – a Phoebe Waller-Bridge perhaps – to add a bit more bite to the comedy.
The film also feels quite sanitised to fit its intended audience – I think this will do well in the 12 to 15 year old age bracket as long as the BBFC pass it as a 12A. Given the potential sauciness of the subject matter, this could be well remade as a 15 or even an 18 certificate film with a bit more violence and a lot more sex!
Monkey?
There is a monkey at the very start of the credits featuring a neat cameo (which the trailer spoils but which I won’t spoil here: she is actually one of the producers of the film). There is also another brief monkey at the end of the credits.
Summary Thoughts:
It’s a fun watch and a very different film from the mainstream movies we are getting down the pipe, which is a good thing. I actually can’t think of many fun ‘comedy/fantasy’ films of this type since “Dungeons and Dragons: Honour Among Thieves“, and that was 2 years ago. But, although the script had fun moments, it felt a little underpowered and I was hoping for something a bit meatier given the comedy potential that the story provides.
The film is currently slated for a US release on December 5th, 2025 and a UK release sometime in January 2026 (as yet unconfirmed).
Where to watch?
Trailer:
The trailer is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C3SgIeH30Z4.
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