From unsolicited subscription price hikes to deteriorating content quality, several factors have led to the current downfall of Netflix’s subscriber base and their unprecedented fall in stock prices. To resuscitate their lost glory in the vicious streaming wars, Netflix has added copious amounts of sex to the mix by releasing the sequel to the much controversial 365 Days, titled 365 Days: This Day — yet even endless orgasms can’t make this film likeable.
Unsurprisingly, it has a rating of zero on Rotten Tomatoes despite the amount of money thrown at the project by the streaming service. Anna Maria Sieklucka and Michele Morrone take up the lead roles, with Morrone as the buff Italian Mafioso leader, Don Massimo, who kidnaps Laura (Sieklucka) from Poland and gives her 365 days to fall in love with him.
Controversially, it involves kidnapping and offers a disturbing view on consent. Resultantly, it has been criticised for glamorising Stockholm Syndrome and rape culture. In the first film, Massimo and Laura’s repellent relationship was exasperating, yet, that didn’t prevent Netflix from greenlighting two sequels.
The film begins with an obvious nosedive into sweaty (honestly, nauseous) sex and nearly gag-worthy makeout sessions but overlooks the accident at the end of the previous movie. Early on, the couple gets married, and the audience is greeted with a sensual montage of their honeymoon.
However, their marriage doesn’t go to plan, and Laura quickly becomes a bored housewife vying for her husband’s attention. Amidst sex and shopping, the new gardener, Nacho, played by Simone Susinna, waltzes into Laura and Massimo’s life, being a perfect antithesis to Massimo. He has more time for Laura than her husband, and soon she begins to fantasise about him.
Frustratingly, the film has no coherent narrative. The acting performances are as bad as they can get, and it’s a pathetic waste of funding. Not even the pretty cinematography and picturesque locations can justify the ridiculous bombardment of horny elements within the picture.
Moreover, 365 Days never reaches its climax, much like our brains that seem to be drying up cells as we proceed with the lack of a nourishing narrative. The hyperreal premise is filled with materialistic objects like expensive cars and dresses that add to their shallow worldview. Instead of being steamy, it is irritatingly dull, made worse by an unnecessary song bursting out every few minutes.
365 Days: This Day is an embarrassing abomination full of perverse fantasies and outrageous, dodgy narratives. Silly, and simply trash. Furthermore, it’s even more heartbreaking to see Laura reinforce the pervading patriarchal tropes instead of trying to subvert them and escape the gilded cage she is stuck in. Worst film of all time? You bet.
