Read this. Regardless of gender or age, everyone deserves to understand the damage of 365 Days.

I watched 365 Dni (Days) on Netflix after a recommendation that it would be enjoyable since I have expressed that I enjoyed the Fifty Shades series.

*TRIGGER AND CONTENT WARNING* This review does contain discussions on domestic violence, sexual assault and abuse. Also, it will contain spoilers from the movie as I will be referencing several moments in the film.

Cred: Google Images

365 Dni is an erotic film, that has been deemed ‘soft porn’ by some and ‘the steamiest movie on Netflix’ by others. It follows the protagonist, Laura Biel, as she takes a break from work to celebrate her birthday on holiday and ends up being kidnapped by the devilishly handsome Massimo. He claims that he has looked over the entire world for her and no one believed that he would find the woman he sees from his near death experience (trust me, it’s corny as well as melodramatic) and that she now has 365 days to fall in love with him, no strings attached.

Throughout the duration of this movie, I felt uncomfortable. Massimo’s behaviour should not be justified by his good looks. I don’t oppose to the genre of erotica in and of itself, I believe it healthy to explore sexuality and desires through intimacy. However, this script actively romanticises sex that is very questionably consensual and allowed the audience to drool over the way that he throws her about, regardless of where they are; public spaces, bedroom or elsewhere.

Many people have commented that it’s release date, June 7th, was untimely because of the sexual frustration that many individual may experience during a period of lockdown. However, not many have stopped to think about the fact that also domestic violence rates have more than doubled during the pandemic. Allowing this movie to be aired on Netflix, a streaming platform for anyone with an account (majority of the population) to access, actively encourages viewers to watch the ways in which Massimo controls, abuses, kidnaps and violates Laura. It enables a perception of this being entirely normal and conforms to the toxic masculinity traits that our society has supposedly been working so hard to eradicate. It makes me feel angry that Massimo’s handsome body allows him to get away with controlling what Laura wears and who she sees, even making a point to not allow her family to come to their eventual wedding (the idea of them getting married in itself is absurd) because she feels uncomfortable telling them that he works for the mafia as a living, WOULDN’T ANYONE FEEL UNCOMFORTABLE?

"How our society is able to shift the focus to equality if this narrative is being normalised and reproduced in mainstream media"

Additionally, this movie tries (and fails miserably) at representing a healthy dom/sub relationship with rebelliousness (or what is known as brattiness) from the submissive partner. It is so easy to have this sex life with the respect and trust that those two people should have for one another. It should not be engaged within every aspect of the lives of these people, as it creates toxic strands of a relationship. This is not love, it is emotional abuse and cannot be overlooked. The fact that Massimo says that he “can’t be gentle” with women is alarmingly unhealthy and should not be glamourised as a desirable trait in a man, which is exactly what happens in this movie.

Also, it seems as though the script also tries to brush over the fact that Laura eventually develops Stockholm syndrome. You might be thinking “come on Dan, stop overdramatising this”. The definition of Stockholm syndrome is as follows: ‘Stockholm syndrome is a psychological response. It occurs when hostages or abuse victims bond with their captors or abusers.’ This is exactly what happens to Laura when she believes herself to be in love with Massimo and as I mentioned above, the reaction wouldn’t have been the same had it not been for Massimo being a handsome man. Imagine Massimo as an overweight nerdy type. It would’ve been frowned upon heavily for the behaviour that is displayed between the two characters. Again this begs the question as to how our society is able to shift the focus to equality between partners if this narrative is being normalised and reproduced in mainstream media.

Also, I think almost everyone ignores one of the first scenes between Massimo and the air hostess. WHY? HOW?! I was rendered speechless as to how they enabled this scene to make it to the final cut of the movie. He violently takes her head and physically forces her mouth to take as much of him as possible. In the last shot, we see her eyes smeared with tears at how much she’s gagged and yet, she smirks. Yes, she smirks at this desirable act that she has been able to satisfy the man that everyone seems to want to be with. In today’s porn-saturated society, surely we should be assimilating the damaging effect that these portrayals of how women should act have on the women who watch it and the men who consume this behaviour to emulate with future partners. The lasting effect of women believing that it’s not always pleasurable but oh wells, as long as he enjoyed it, right? It's not right.

That's why I have decided to create a petition to try and encourage Netflix to insert specific trigger warnings to the beginning of this film, in an attempt to illustrate that this is not by any means a healthy desirable relationship that anyone should be aiming to achieve.

Sign it here: https://www.change.org/p/anyone-who-wants-to-eradicate-toxic-masculinity-specific-trigger-warnings-for-365-days-on-netflix?utm_content=cl_sharecopy_22859885_en-GB%3A7&recruiter=1117193757&utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=copylink&utm_campaign=share_petition