By Seth Lukas Hynes
365 Days
Starring Anna-Maria Sieklucka and Michele Morrone
Rated R18+
The Fifty Shades series received well-deserved criticism for glamourising emotional abuse, but 365 Days, in which Laura (Anna-Maria Sieklucka) is kidnapped by Sicilian Mafia boss Massimo (Michele Morrone) and given one year to fall in love with him, is even more toxic.
Massimo is a cold, monstrous individual who repeatedly forces his will and body on Laura, and yet he is depicted as a suave hunk, and they inexplicably fall in love. This film celebrates vanity and aggression, relentlessly objectifies its female characters, and downplays the vital importance of consent.
On a more technical level, 365 Days has wooden performances and trite, terribly-translated dialogue (the film is a Polish production, but performed mostly in English). The pacing is limp, and Laura’s heart condition, Massimo’s jealous former lover and the rival Mafia family either carry no urgency or are completely dropped.
The cinematography is vibrant and the sex scenes are superficially steamy, but any eroticism is unearned, given the blatant coercion and emotional manipulation in Massimo and Laura’s relationship.
When Laura declares her love for Massimo toward the end of the film, like me you’ll probably shout a certain rude expression of outrage at the ceiling.
365 Days is a shallow, dull, poorly-acted and above all disgusting power fantasy. It’s available for streaming on Netflix, but this is extremely inadvisable.
