The controversial Polish film, ‘365 Days’, is getting two sequels on Netflix. The erotic Polish drama landed on the streaming platform last summer and was a surprising hit as it quickly began drawing comparisons to another popular erotica, the Fifty Shades trilogy. Although, the critical response to 365 Days was perhaps even grimmer than Fifty Shades of Grey’s, as it sits at 0% on the Rotten Tomatoes' Tomatometer.
Directed by Barbara Białowąs and Tomasz Mandes, ‘365 Days’ is based on the first novel in a trilogy by Blanka Lipińska. The film follows a young sales director named Laura (Anna Maria Sieklucka) from Warsaw. As she is vacationing in Sicily, Laura is kidnapped by a member of the Sicilian Mafia family named Massimo (Michele Morrone) who has been stalking her for years. Massimo soon reveals his plan is to imprison Laura for 365 days and impose himself on her until she falls in love with him. Aside from being slammed as an outright bad movie, ‘365 Days’ garnered controversy for romanticizing sexual violence and Stockholm syndrome, prompting petitioners to urge for the film’s removal from Netflix.
Despite the controversy, ‘365’ Days will be getting not one, but two sequels on Netflix, according to a Deadline exclusive. The film’s main stars, Sieklucka and Morrone, will reprise their roles as Laura and Massimo for the sequels. Białowąs and Mandes will return to direct. Much like ‘Fifty Shades of Grey’, ‘365 Days’ sequels will adapt books two and three in the series by Lipińska.
The first sequel will see Laura and Massimo reunited, but according to Deadline, their relationship will be “complicated by Massimo’s family ties and a mysterious man who enters Laura’s life to win her heart and trust at any cost.” Though erotic films like ‘Fifty Shades’ and ‘365 Days’ are often scoffed at and derided by critics, with many valid points being made regarding their glamorization of sexual assault, there is clearly a market out there for these types of films. —Deadline
