Netflix’s new erotic thriller has become a popular watch for viewers this month. The sequel to the 2020 surprise hit 365 Days, it is safe to say that this movie isn’t really loved by the critics, just like its predecessor. Though only based on a handful of reviews, 365 Days: This Day has received a 0% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
The first movie had mafia Don Massimo (played by Michele Morrone) kidnapping Laura (played by Anna-Maria Sieklucka) and giving her 365 days to fall in love with him. The romanticization of toxic behavior and shades of Stockholm Syndrome angered a lot of critics and viewers. The sequel is also no better as many viewers have pointed out that this film basically lacks in everything from plot to acting which is in line with our thoughts that this entire movie feels forced.
Further analyzing the movie, we noticed a lack of concrete storytelling and overall progression; this all comes down to the abundance of music montages present throughout the film and over-the-top erotic scenes, which seem to be the main draw of the film. In totality, it doesn’t really feel like a movie but rather just a bunch of music videos and erotic scenes clipped together with no overall story structure.
Furthermore, this is made worse by the below par acting performances from all the actors. The ‘European native’ style of English certainly doesn’t make it better too and instead just makes it seem more comical (which we believe might be intentional). This, combined with a hollow story line just makes it practically impossible for the viewers to relate with the characters and feel for them during their sorrows and betrayals.
There wasn’t much thought needed to answer the question in the article’s title and the unequivocal answer to the question is “not at all.” For the entire duration of the movie, there was zero motivation, non-existent storyline, and horrible acting performances. Erotic thrillers have been done in the past like Basic Instinct that managed to keep the viewers engaged in their story and acting performances.However, in this case, when the erotic scenes become the main draw of the film at the expense of basic filmmaking principles, it results in a disaster like we have now.
Written by Paramveer Singh Sethi, Northeastern University
