When Julia Jackman read Isabel Greenberg’s 2016 graphic novel The One Hundred Nights of Hero, she wasn’t aspiring to become a full-time filmmaker, let alone one whose adaptation of the book would premiere at Venice Film Festival and star Maika Monroe, Emma Corrin, Nicholas Galitzine, Richard E. Grant, Amir El-Masry, Felicity Jones and Charli xcx.

“Most of my closest friends aren’t in the film world,” says Jackman, a 36-year-old Canadian filmmaker who was a translator and occasional director of shorts when she read the source material. “I loved the feeling of being transported to another world. I didn’t fully understand at the time how rare it is to see an otherworldly, fantastical fairytale that is also queer. Usually, they’re queer-coded, instead of overtly queer, and you’re left to wonder. It was fun to see a romp that was also a love story between two women.”

Born in Edmonton, Alberta and now an East Londoner, Jackman approached Greenberg about a potential film adaptation, knowing that the latter was studying for an animation masters. “But she trusted me and wanted to hand it over,” says Jackman. “It started with us as the core two. I saw an iteration that was intimate and leaned into ‘90s, hand-painted VFX; kind of more lo-fi than a sweeping CGI spectacle.”

Jackman’s resulting film, now retitled 100 Nights of Hero, is a queer, surreal, medieval comedy that, despite its minimal budget, squeezes as much DIY detail and colour into each frame. Before the opening titles, Jackman’s script, which she wrote on spec, introduces a painterly sky of multiple moons, an alternate bird-ruling history of the planet’s construction, and a society whereby women are forbidden from reading and writing. The timeline is vaguely pre-15th century, albeit with a pop star known for brat amidst the ensemble.

The hero of 100 Nights of Hero is, indeed, a maid called Hero (Corrin). In the knowingly absurd setup, rich prince Jerome (El-Masry) weds Cherry (Monroe) but cannot – or, perhaps due to his ambiguous sexuality, will not – consume the marriage. As a bet – imagine She’s All That as a fairytale – Jerome challenges his jock friend Manfred (Galitzine) to seduce Cherry within 100 days in his absence from the castle. Protecting Cherry, Hero delays Manfred’s man-fed tactics by telling late-night stories, all of which culminate in a love triangle when Hero teaches Cherry how to kiss.

Greenberg has stated that if she were writing her graphic novel today, she’d make Hero a non-binary character. Fittingly, Hero is played by Corrin. “It clicked,” says Jackman. “So much of the film is about theatricality, the restriction of gender roles, and how much of that is a performance: like, men being men, and women being women. Hero feels so apart from that, and, in some ways, more enlightened than that. It made sense that Hero would be coded, and played by one of our most iconic non-binary actors.”

I didn’t fully understand how rare it is to see a fantastical fairytale that is also queer. Usually, they’re queer coded, instead of overtly queer, and you’re left to wonder

While the men – including Richard E. Grant as a godlike, beak-bearing being called Birdman – are comical buffoons, they’re also trapped within a societal prison. Jerome is possibly a closeted homosexual. Manfred feels pressure to demonstrate manly stereotypes, whether it’s hunting deer or showing off his abs around the castle. “Nobody’s happy,” says Jackman. “Manfred is a cursed himbo. Everyone’s performing what they think people need or want from them. Cherry is not in touch with her desires, because why would you want what you can’t have?”

The first actor on board was Galitzine, followed by Corrin and then, to Jackman’s surprise, Charli XCX. Jackman’s script was sent out to agents, one of whom passed it onto the musician-turned-actor. In the first of Hero’s tales, Charli appears as Rosa, one of three isolated sisters who form a secret society of female writers. With little dialogue, Rosa is the opposite of Charli’s brat persona; it’s even a gag within the film how much a merchant inaccurately projects his romantic fantasies upon Rosa.

“It was interesting to see Charlie as someone so demure with her cards close to her chest, and this unhinged suitor thinks he knows so much about her,” says Jackman. “She’s a character who doesn’t have much of a voice, but has her own secrets and contains multitudes. It’s bringing a bit of Charli’s charisma, and the tendency to project onto public figures. But mostly, when I met her, it was clear she could play a subtle character with secrets. She’s so different from what she’s doing on tour and in music videos. What would be the point of her showing up to do exactly the same thing? The character feels like she’s the opposite, but still has that spirit of rebellion.”

Although 100 Nights of Hero was Jackman’s first script, she made her directorial debut with 2023’s Bonus Track, a gay coming-of-ager starring Joe Anders and Samuel Small. In the teen drama, two schoolboys fall in love when preparing for a talent contest. The first draft was written by Josh O’Connor, who – along with other collaborators – approached Jackman to helm the project. “I was surprised they responded to my shorts,” says Jackman. “I’d never made anything in that genre, either. But we clicked on Zoom. I’d love to see more of [Josh O’Connor’s] writing out there when he has time. He’s the busiest man alive.”

Jackman’s two features have thus been queer period-dramas about young desire, just set a few centuries apart. “Maybe I’m really drawn to stories about yearning,” she says when this connection is placed to her. “I’ve had my share growing up, having my first queer experiences. I do think I’m interested in the subtleties of intimacy, and what desire is like when it’s coming up against repression. And I’m drawn to warm stories like Bonus Track. I hadn’t thought of making a teen romcom, but it felt like the type of thing I wanted to put out for young people, or anyone in search of a gay, good time.”

Jackman reveals that the public response for both films has been heartwarming and deeply personal. “I’m getting a lot of sweet DMs, mostly from queer young people, and a lot of young trans people, talking about it meaning something to them,” she says. “People talk about their uncertainties, about feeling seen, or just feeling the yearning. And there’s fun ones about: ‘How do I get to be Cherry, and have Emma Corrin and Nick Galitzine fighting over me?’ I shouldn’t say this in an interview, but I try to respond to all of them.”

100 Nights of Hero is out in UK cinemas on February 6