Venice Film Festival 2025: 100 Nights of Hero
Julia Jackman's adaptation of Isabel Greenberg's graphic novel is a distinctive feminist fairy tale powered by excellent performances and endlessly quotable dialogue
The revolutionary power of storytelling fuels Julia Jackman’s blisteringly fun 100 Nights of Hero – it may even liberate poor Cherry (Maika Monroe) from a world that has dictated women are only fit for chess, falconry and, most importantly, giving birth.
Adapted from the graphic novel of the same name, the director’s feminist fairy tale features some of the richest world building you’ll see on such a small scale. Jackman crafts a fantasy world divorced from space and time, vaguely medieval but populated with three candy-coloured moons in the sky and a god above named Birdman (Richard E. Grant). Susie Coulthard’s delicious costume design sees women dressed in structured gowns and geometric headwear, fitting for the archaic boxes they’re forced into, drawn by misogyny.
For Cherry, all she’s meant for is producing an heir. Too bad she’s stuck with husband Jerome (Amir El-Masry), who refuses to consummate their marriage despite the death sentence fated for Cherry if she doesn’t provide a child. When Jerome departs on business, he leaves his wife in the care of his arrogant friend Manfred (Nicholas Galitzine) – but not before the pair wager that if Manfred can seduce Cherry, they’ll both delight in watching her hang.
Cherry’s one solace is her maid and best friend Hero (Emma Corrin), who weaves a nightly story that inspires its enraptured audience to imagine a life freed from oppression (Charli XCX appears as the heroine of the tale, convincing enough in a limited role). There’s a charming and sharp sense of humour honed in Jackman’s precise framing as well as the endlessly quotable dialogue, delivered by a uniformly strong cast. Corrin and Monroe have searing chemistry, but it’s Galitzine in particular who chews up every scene as a conniving himbo.
Undoubtedly, 100 Nights of Hero has all the makings of a cult classic. If the film’s sheer earnestness verges on the saccharine, it’s Jackman’s distinctive style and infectious playfulness that makes this a story you just can’t put down.
100 Nights of Hero received its world premiere at the 2025 Venice Film Festival; UK release date tbc