Netflix can’t get enough of toxic relationships. After dropping the ridiculous (and tragic) reality series The Ultimatum: Marry or Move On, the streamer has yet another program that’ll make you stop believing in love entirely. That’s right: 365 Days (aka 365 Dni), Netflix’s destructively steamy Polish film, is returning with a sequel.
The extremely controversial film made headlines when it premiered during the summer of 2020. Its portrayal of kinky sex helped it skyrocket it to the top of Netflix’s most-watched titles. But the fact that it was about a rich playboy who kidnaps and then sexually terrorizes women led to so much backlash that there were even calls to have it removed from the streaming service because of the dangers of passing off such content as horny fun.
Instead, there’s now a sequel—and the trailer just arrived.
Here’s a phrase that’ll get you right back into the 365 Days swing of things: “I’ll do whatever I want with you.” It’s the first thing Massimo (Michele Morrone) says in the trailer—but there’s a twist. Laura (Anna-Maria Sieklucka) corrects him, “No, I will do whatever I want with you.” Guys, this isn’t any better than the horrors of the first film.
The couple finally take their sex den public, though, appearing to get married in the trailer for 365 Days: This Day. It’s not the best idea for obvious reasons, but a few new issues arise as well. This happens in every single Netflix romance sequel, so get ready for it to happen again: there’s a new man in Laura’s life who arrives to disrupt things.
The first movie—which was, ironically, released in 2020, a leap year, meaning there were actually 366 Days—attracted a massive viewership when it was released on Netflix in the States. Acclaim, on the other hand, was another issue. While 365 Days picked up horndogs all over the nation, it was denounced for its terribly abusive storyline.
The original film faced backlash after dominating the Netflix charts, thanks especially to TikTokers, who made the film go viral by challenging viewers to film themselves watching its over-the-top, blushingly explicit sex scenes—which often involved rough play. (One nickname for the film was “Polish 50 Shades of Grey.”)
The more popular the film got, the more it faced controversy. Singer Duffy penned an open letter to CEO Reed Hastings urging the company to take down the film because “it glamorizes rape.”
“To anyone who may exclaim ‘it is just a movie’, it is not ‘just’, when it has great influence to distort a subject which is widely undiscussed, such as sex trafficking and kidnapping, by making the subject erotic,” she said.
The first film was criticized for its portrayal of a dominant-submissive relationship, with many folks tying it into Stockholm syndrome. In the film, Massimo abducts Laura, ties her up, and basically forces her into sex acts with him until she falls in love with him.
Many horrified viewers criticized the film for its problematic and triggering portrayal of consent. But others fetishized it; another TikTok trend emerged in which users showed off bruises they received from rough sex and romanticized what it would be like to be kidnapped by Massimo and subjected to his treatment themselves.
Nevertheless, 365 Days is persisting. There was no denying the first film’s popularity, so naturally a sequel would follow.
Netflix continues to host a flurry of romance nightmares, including (but not limited to) The Ultimatum, After, and Sex/Life. All of these portray toxic (and usually, abusive) relationships with little to no warning. But, hey: Netflix just released sex docuseries The Principles of Pleasure, which should right their many wrongs. Right?
Barbara Białowąs and Tomasz Mandes return to direct the flick, with Mandes, Mojca Tirs, and Blanka Lipińska writing the madness. Lead stars Laura Biel and Massimo Torricelli will return, played once again by Anna-Maria Sieklucka and Michele Morrone, respectively. Magdalena Lamparska also returns, with Simone Susinna joining the cast.
“365 Days: This Day” will land on Netflix on this day: April 27.
