If your lockdown dry spell was eased somewhat by last year’s most confusing sleeper hit, 365 Days, then my friend, rejoice: the nonsensical erotic drama is getting not one but TWO whole-ass sequels on Netflix.
The original film, which I have not seen but which I feel intimately acquainted with thanks to the brilliant Steff Tan‘s willingness to sacrifice herself for the greater good, wasn’t originally made by Netflix. It was a Polish adaptation of a Polish erotic novel series that just happened to go absolutely bananas with global audiences once the streaming giant picked it up in June 2020.
Michele Morrone and Anna-Maria Sieklucka play Massimo, a hot mafia guy, and Laura, a hot sales director (the sexiest of industries). Massimo stalks, drugs and kidnaps Laura and gives her 365 days to fall in love with him. This is presented as the height of erotic romance.
Unsurprisingly the film has copped a lot of criticism for romanticising sexual violence and trafficking. British singer Duffy, who opened up early last year about her terrifying ordeal of being drugged, raped and kidnapped, wrote an impassioned letter to Netflix asking them to remove the film, saying that it “glamorises the brutal reality of sex trafficking, kidnapping and rape.”
Aside from that it is just a very bad film by all accounts – like, a really bad film. Like, sitting on a 0% Fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes bad.
Did that stop legions of quarantined horndogs from gobbling it up with relish? No. No it did not.
Fortunately for the horndogs, the book series that the movie is based on has a whole ‘nother two books of dumb, ethically-suspect steamy content to draw on. Both leads are returning (which is kind of a spoiler because it sort of seemed like Laura died in the first film but we’re all grown-ups here and I think we all understand that if a character dies off-screen then she definitely hasn’t actually died).
There’s also a new cast member on board: model/actor Simone Susinna is going to play a character called “Nacho“. All of them remain extremely hot, so at least there’s that.
The author of the books, Blanka Lipińska, is reportedly stoked that they’re being further adapted, saying:
I’m hugely honoured that the remaining two parts of my 365 Days trilogy will be brought to life on screen by Netflix. I’m so excited to show fans of my novels all over the world this fresh look at the characters and to continue Laura and Massimo’s story.
We’ll keep you posted on release dates as soon as we hear about ’em.
