The older I get, the more I just want to shut my brain off and watch movies where bad things happen to teenagers who wander into a house they aren't supposed to enter, or movies where the cast is led entirely by CGI animals who are smarter than the real-life humans they encounter. I rarely want to feel anything besides good ol' fashioned amusement… but I was almost delighted to be sobbing during and at the end of Julia Jackman's dazzling 100 Nights of Hero, which flips the tragic queer love story trope on its head and gives us all something new to believe in.
The story, based on the graphic novel of the same name, follows a woman named Cherry (Maika Monroe), who is facing persecution if she cannot produce an heir to the throne with her husband, Jerome (Amir El-Masry). Jerome, neglectful and also unable to consummate his marriage (due to being attracted to men), decides to leave her alone for 100 nights with a fellow royal named Manfred (Nicholas Galitzine), in the hope that Manfred will seduce and impregnate Cherry on his behalf. However, this plan isn't as easy as Manfred thinks, as Cherry's loyal maid, Hero (Emma Corrin), is in love with her – and blocks him at every chance by reciting parts of an ongoing, fantastical tale of three sisters who wanted more than just marriage.
