365 Days (2020): Erotic Thriller About Beauty & The Beast. Plot Summary & Essence Of The Film. Explanation Of The Ending, Similar Films, Will There Be A Sequel.
The essence of the film “365 days” (365 dni) lies on the surface, and there is no hidden meaning in this film. The plot of the film is very simple and unprincipled: in fact, this is another interpretation of the story of the beauty and the beast.
This is an erotic thriller based on the novels by Blanca Lipinska. The picture, which was released on the big screens in February 2020, managed to earn more than $ 9,000,000, become the owner of the “Golden Raspberry” for the worst scenario, and acquire a huge number of both haters and ardent fans.
Country: Poland
Genre: melodrama, thriller
Year of production: 2020
Directed by: Barbara Bialovas, Tomas Mandes
Actors: Anna Maria Siklutska, Michele Morrone, Bronisław Wrocławski
Plot
365 Days is about Laura, a beautiful young woman who is kidnapped by a young Sicilian don. The abduction, by the way, happened because the girl was seen by Massimo in the delirium of a coma, which he fell into when his father was killed by a rival group.
Thus, the creators of the film outline the reason why the viewer can and should be imbued with sympathy for the handsome antagonist. It is understood that behind his nature of a bandit and alpha is a man who lost his father, a deeply vulnerable person, forced to become at the helm of a criminal group. However, these are only conjectures and assumptions of the authors of the analysis of the film (and the author of this review in particular).
Waking up, Massimo realizes that he must at all costs find the girl he has dreamed of, and make her his own.
Frame from the film.
Like Nina from The Prisoner of the Caucasus, Laura soon finds herself in the mansion of this hot Sicilian mover. As the name of the picture (365 days) implies, Massimo has a year for the kidnapped Laura to change her anger to mercy. Or Stockholm Syndrome.
Laura is not so simple. She is not a weak-willed doll and with all her might resists the pressure of her tormentor. Luxury hotels, exotic resorts, trips to the most sophisticated shops and expensive gifts are not able to force Laura to open up to Massimo and allow him to enter her life.
In this game of cat and mouse, the assertive Sicilian still prevails, and all his truly sadistic attempts to break the heroine are eventually crowned with success.
After that, the film “365 days” slides into frank erotica. Toward the end of the picture, Laura is imbued with deep sympathy for Massimo. Their relationship deepens and they even plan to get married.
Naturally, because of the “work” of the protagonist, Laura’s life ends up in danger. The enamored Massimo literally tears her away from him and tells her to return home to Poland. In reality, the explanation for such an act of the handsome don would be banal: having played enough with a beautiful toy, he simply cooled down to it.
However, no. A fairy tale about a monster that a beautiful girl was able to save works in the universe of the picture “365 days”, and how. Therefore, Massimo is looking forward to her return: Laura is expecting a child, which means that he will definitely have a real family, which he dreamed of for so long.
But not everything is so simple. Soon the hands of the underworld still get to the main character…
The meaning of the film
It is difficult to look for meaning in an erotic melodrama designed for the same target audience that went crazy for “50 Shades of Gray” and “Twilight”. It’s just a modern fairy tale. But the fairy tale is terrible: this is a story about a strange, sick love.
The essence of the film lies on the surface. As conceived by the writer and creators of the film “365 Days”, the essence is this: every woman dreams of belonging to a man. Moreover, every woman dreams of being tamed. It is for this reason that the film is very disliked by feminists.
Ending explanation
In the finale, Laura picks up the phone: before the wedding, she wants to tell the groom some important news. At this moment, Massimo is in his palace. Next, we see how the car with Laura drives into the tunnel. The mobile connection is very poor and eventually it drops out.
It is also shown at the end that Massimo finds out that they want to kill Laura. The viewer sees that the car that drove into the tunnel does not leave from there.
Massimo, sensing that something bad has happened, falls to his knees. That is, the authors of the painting “365 Days” lead the viewer to the idea that, most likely, Laura died at the end. But what really happened at the end?
Frame from the film.
The explanation for the ending of the film “365 Days” is as follows: Laura wanted to tell Massimo that she was expecting a child from him, did not have time to tell him this, and seemed to die.
But the author has written as many as three books. From further books it becomes clear, for example, who else, in addition to the rival group, whose members settled scores with Massimo, had reasons to remove Laura – the former girlfriend of the Sicilian don.
It also says that the main character still survived.
But these are books: what will happen in the films if they are filmed is unknown: perhaps at the end of this story there will always be a meaningful ellipsis.
Will there be a continuation
The story of Laura and Massimo did not end with one book. The reader, imbued with this story, is waiting for two more continuations. The viewer, probably, too. But there is no information about the continuation of filming yet.
Movies similar to “365 Days”
The author of the story about Massimo and Laura does not hide the fact that in the first place she was inspired by the book “50 Shades of Grey”, therefore, “the main erotic bestseller of the world” is most similar to “365 days”. The same goes for films.
50 shades of grey
The movie “50 Shades of Grey” tells about a girl named Anastacia. One day, she goes to an interview with a famous playboy billionaire. Actually, Anastacia’s friend was supposed to go to the interview, but she got sick.
A scene from the movie 50 Shades of Grey.
Anastasia does not have the proper pressure and journalistic impudence, she is shy and shy. The interview comes out crumpled. However, Mr. Gray liked the girl. One day he showed up at the store where Anastacia works. An acquaintance is made, and then a passionate romance. Anastasia soon becomes convinced that Mr. Gray is a great original. And she should stay away from him, but she can no longer help herself.
Revelation
Another motion picture similar to 365 Days is a film called Revelation, released in 2011. The picture tells about a young girl named Anna. She works as a journalist and collects material for a large article. One day, life brings her together with a group of students who earn their education by prostitution. Anna begins to work with them: she asks them typical journalistic questions, but receives interesting, non-standard answers that eventually make her rethink her whole life.
Frame from the movie “Revelation”.
Gradually, Anna realizes how her attitude towards love, sex, family and moral principles accepted in society is changing. This leads to the collapse of her seemingly strong marriage. Anna understands that it will only get worse, but she is no longer able to stop the process of degradation.
Three meters above the sky: I want you
Another “twin brother” of the film “365 Days” is a melodrama called “Three meters above the sky: I want you”, released in 2012. The similarity with the story of Massimo and Laura lies in how unexpected love turns the usual way of life of the characters upside down.
Shot from the film “Three meters above the sky: I want you.”
This film tells about Acha, who, after a long absence, returns to his homeland. He will have to forget the past, get a new job – in a word, start a new life.
Gradually, the life of the young man is getting better, but he cannot forget the girl from the past, Babi. Even a new love does not help him cope with the memories that torment him more and more every day.
Love. Wedding. Repeat
In 2020, a comedy called “Love. Wedding. Repeat”. With the film “365 days” this picture is related by the theme of difficult love relationships. The protagonist of this film, Jack, once promised his beloved sister that he would do everything to ensure that her wedding was perfect. And he almost kept that promise. That’s just “something went wrong”: suddenly, a former lover appeared in Jack’s life, who wants to present him with a special account.
Frame from the film “Love. Wedding. Repeat”.
9 and a half weeks
Viewers are also comparing the new Polish film to the original classic, 9 1/2 Weeks, starring the incredibly attractive Mickey Rourke and Kim Basinger. By the way, both of these films have in common not only an erotic plot, but also “Golden Raspberry”.
A scene from the movie “9 and a half weeks”.
fourth man
Far too remotely, “365 Days” resembles the old, but incredibly cool thriller by Paul Verhoeven, “The Fourth Man”. But there, unlike this picture, there is not only beautiful erotica, but also a really interesting plot, powerful psychologism, symbolism and hidden meaning – after all, Verhoeven shot.
