365 Dni (Days)

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According to The New York Times this movie is a “viral sensation around the world”.

So here we are on a movie forum & nobody but me has seen it?



Did anyone else review this? What can I say? Attractively produced, great photography & locations, high production values. But basically a high-end “dirty movie” with some laughable dialogue & excruciating spoken English from some of the foreign actors. The two leads were very attractive (especially the Italian male lead) & they both gave 100%.

Amazed I finished it, but I did.
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The premise sounds similar to Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! (1989), but haven't seen it. But it seems to be more popular with a female audience so far, from what I've read, unless that's wrong?



I mean, it has a 3.3 on the IMDb. I read up on it when I saw that it was trending in terms of viewership, but from what I understand it's about a woman who is kidnapped by a man and Stockholm Syndrome'd into loving him?

I'm generally tepid on "erotic thrillers" and I don't find the context of sexual violence in "romance" very appealing so I've had little interest.

People everywhere are stuck indoors, so I'm sure that a piece of "legitimate" smut (ie something you can watch on Netflix) is going to get a lot of attention. But the positive reviews on the IMDb only hammered home that this really doesn't sound like a film I'd want to watch.

EDIT: To be clear, I'm not shaming people for watching this film. It's just not for me.



The premise sounds similar to Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! (1989), but haven't seen it.
I’ve seen this, but have no recollection of it being similar. Could be.



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Oh it just reads that way when I read the premise online, since both movies are about a guy who kidnaps a woman and tries to force her to love him and then she falls for him later. But they just read similar and could still be very different in execution of course.



I mean, it has a 3.3 on the IMDb. I read up on it when I saw that it was trending in terms of viewership, but from what I understand it's about a woman who is kidnapped by a man and Stockholm Syndrome'd into loving him?

I'm generally tepid on "erotic thrillers" and I don't find the context of sexual violence in "romance" very appealing so I've had little interest.

People everywhere are stuck indoors, so I'm sure that a piece of "legitimate" smut (ie something you can watch on Netflix) is going to get a lot of attention. But the positive reviews on the IMDb only hammered home that this really doesn't sound like a film I'd want to watch.
I renewed my Netflix streaming to watch this & was annoyed at first that I had done so.

One can’t over-analyze this movie. “Stockholm Syndrome” labels make it more relevant a movie than it is. I don’t even think it’s an “erotic thriller” such as the original Body Heat is. From a woman’s POV I didn’t find it particularly sexually violent since so much of the “plot” is ludicrous. Movies like the original Straw Dogs & Irréversible are profoundly more disturbing.

Your use of the adjective “smut” is fairly on-track IMO. As you say, people are stuck indoors with little to do, which has surely contributed to its viral success.



From a woman’s POV I didn’t find it particularly sexually violent since so much of the “plot” is ludicrous. Movies like the original Straw Dogs & Irréversible are profoundly more disturbing.

Your use of the adjective “smut” is fairly on-track IMO. As you say, people are stuck indoors with little to do, which has surely contributed to its viral success.
Yeah, no judgement meant with the term. Everyone likes a bit of smut. This just isn't my particular brand. (I know what you mean about not taking it seriously, but "abduction as romance" isn't a dynamic I usually like).

Because the film pushes the sex aspect so much, it wouldn't surprise me if people had seen it but didn't want to advertise the fact. And if what you say about it is true, then there might not be that much to discuss anyway?



Because the film pushes the sex aspect so much, it wouldn't surprise me if people had seen it but didn't want to advertise the fact. And if what you say about it is true, then there might not be that much to discuss anyway?
True & true. It’s most often compared to the 50 Shades movies, which I never saw as the one book I attempted to read was so awful.

I’m amused by the movie poster, which gives the impression that the female lead is quite “chesty”. The actress actually has extremely small bosoms. So there’s that.



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Yeah it seems that no one likes big breasts anymore in movies, because people say it's sexually exploiting women. But you think in a movie like this, the filmmakers wouldn't have had a problem with that.

However, even if people are trapped in their homes because of these covid times, why is this movie doing so well, compared to Parasite for example? I couldn't get anyone I know to watch Parasite, because people do not want to watch a movie in a foreign language, and now all my female friends I know are watching this foreign language movie and giving it a chance.

Are they making an exception because it's erotica?



But it seems to be more popular with a female audience so far, from what I've read...
I don't know why some women find things like this and the 50 Shades thing attractive... There are also those extreme cases where convicted serial killers like Ted Bundy get a following after they've been found guilty of killing women that fit enamored women's physical bill... doesn't make much sense to me... but what do I know. Call me old fashioned, but aren't men supposed to protect and honor women? Not brutalize and defame them?
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According to The New York Times this movie is a “viral sensation around the world”.

So here we are on a movie forum & nobody but me has seen it?

I’ve seen it. I think it’s beyond awful. I actually had to watch 2 more films after to get rid of the aftertaste.



I’ve seen this, but have no recollection of it being similar. Could be.
That was my first thought. It’s not the only one, if you really do your homework there are erotic/S&M-themed films that are competently made. The Handmaiden (2016), which I know I keep banging on about, addresses it all in passing and that’s what I call quality.



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I don't know why some women find things like this and the 50 Shades thing attractive... There are also those extreme cases where convicted serial killers like Ted Bundy get a following after they've been found guilty of killing women that fit enamored women's physical bill... doesn't make much sense to me... but what do I know. Call me old fashioned, but aren't men supposed to protect and honor women? Not brutalize and defame them?
This is just my guess but I but I think this movie has drawn a more female audience (if it's true), because some women like the aggressive bad boy, that needs to be fixed. I don't know if I am going to get flak for saying that, but it's true, with women I know, where they have a bad boyfriend and feel they need fix him. But not so far their attempts have been unsuccessful, and the relationships do not work out so far.

But as far as erotic entertainment goes, the whole innocent good girl, who may be a virgin, wanting to cure an aggressive bad ass who is rich, is just so routine though for a story, and we have seen this all before.

Can't they write a more original erotica premise and story?



This is just my guess but I but I think this movie has drawn a more female audience (if it's true), because some women like the aggressive bad boy, that needs to be fixed. I don't know if I am going to get flak for saying that, but it's true, with women I know, where they have a bad boyfriend and feel they need fix him. But not so far their attempts have been unsuccessful, and the relationships do not work out so far.
I'd rather not speculate because I'm not a woman and I don't know how a woman feels or thinks about one thing to the next. I just find it curious that some women will take the wrong guy and put up with the most horrid abuse, rather than "dump the zero and get a hero" sort of thing...



This is just my guess but I but I think this movie has drawn a more female audience (if it's true), because some women like the aggressive bad boy, that needs to be fixed. I don't know if I am going to get flak for saying that, but it's true, with women I know, where they have a bad boyfriend and feel they need fix him. But not so far their attempts have been unsuccessful, and the relationships do not work out so far.

The thing is, it’s far more complicated than that. The real-life ‘agressive bad boys’ of that type would rape the protagonist, keep her in a cellar, let the bros rape her, and then likely cut her head off and dump her in a ditch somewhere. Not send her on a multi-thousand-dollar shopping spree. I never had any problem with women sexualising abuse, if that’s what they want to do, but if that’s what a film does, why not at least make it realistic and not sugarcoat it? That’s what I hate about those films, rather than the Stockholm Syndrome per se. In the Land of Blood and Honey (2011) - awful though that is - had a more realistic angle on how those types of men are likely to behave. EDIT: Berlin Syndrome was a bit better.



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I'd rather not speculate because I'm not a woman and I don't know how a woman feels or thinks about one thing to the next. I just find it curious that some women will take the wrong guy and put up with the most horrid abuse, rather than "dump the zero and get a hero" sort of thing...
Yeah but also, the movies do increase the abuse for entertainment purposes (not that I'm saying it's entertaining for me). For example, I read that the guy in this movie is a rapist and murderer, where as the women I know who are attracted to bad boys they need to fix, none of the bad boys were those, I don't think.

But there are other movies that have the innocent virgin girl/bad boy that needs to be fixed, formula though, but at a much less dramatic level. Dirty Dancing (1987), follows the same formula at a much less dramatic level, and it's popular with large female audience as well.



Call me old fashioned, but aren't men supposed to protect and honor women? Not brutalize and defame them?
I don’t think men have to protect us, but they do need to respect us & we need to respect them.

I’ve seen it. I think it’s beyond awful. I actually had to watch 2 more films after to get rid of the aftertaste.
I know what you mean. I still can’t believe I finished it.

That was my first thought. It’s not the only one, if you really do your homework there are erotic/S&M-themed films that are competently made. The Handmaiden (2016), which I know I keep banging on about, addresses it all in passing and that’s what I call quality.
Can’t remember if I’ve seen The Handmaiden (would have to look it up), but a rather good movie (that maybe a lot of people don’t like) is the Chinese movie Lust, Caution. I recently re-watched it & thought it quite erotic. And it’s an excellent storyline.

But as far as erotic entertainment goes, the whole innocent good girl, who may be a virgin, wanting to cure an aggressive bad ass who is rich, is just so routine though for a story, and we have seen this all before.
Was the woman in 365 Dni supposed to be virgin? If she was, this went right over my head & I don’t think she needed to be for this rôle.



But as far as erotic entertainment goes, the whole innocent good girl, who may be a virgin, wanting to cure an aggressive bad ass who is rich, is just so routine though for a story, and we have seen this all before.

Can't they write a more original erotica premise and story?
Oh, they sure can. But that’s what those types of women are turned on by. These films, including 50 Shades, are marketed to women. The book 365 Dni was written by a woman, and so is most of that trash. Apologies for revealing my subjective sentiment.



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Well the guy in Lust, Caution was abusive to an extent as well, and it's sort of a similar bad boy formula, isn't it?

Was the woman in 365 Dni supposed to be virgin? If she was, this went right over my head & I don’t think she needed to be for this rôle.
I haven't seen the movie but going by people I know who have, and I was told she was a virgin, but my friend might have gotten it wrong. Sorry, I am just going by hearsay



Gonna go ahead and post a review I read that perfectly sums up why I won't be watching this piece of ****:

"This is not okay.

I'm so tired of saying those words. I'm so tired of a lifetime of seeing this type of content and having to fight the standards ingrained into our society by talking about it. I'm tired of telling myself and other people that the only reason why content such as this becomes a placeholder for romance and sexual gratification is because we were all raised to see it that way rather than raised to condemn it, to be revolted by it, to speak out against it.

I remember reading stories on Wattpad, a place where all young writers found themselves in the search for an audience for their work. I wrote very little, mostly out of insecurity of the very few likes I did receive, but I read. I read a lot. I read fanfiction, I read original ideas, I read what my friends recommended and I even read what my friends wrote. And more than anything, it feels like I read stories like these.

That's not a joke. I know a lot of people are comparing this to Wattpad stories from our preteen and teenage years as a joke, and I understand the humour (I even made one myself) but I need you to know that this isn't a joke. It's not funny. This is a serious consequence of a world that has been built by men, for men, for the pleasure of men. And the most horrifying part of all of this is that it has been ingrained in our society for so long and so subtly and even so violently that now it is an actual source of sexual pleasure. And I'm angry. I'm really angry about this because I thought we were past it, I thought we had moved on, but apparently not.

I mean, has anyone currently in their twenties actually taken the time to reflect on our most formative years? Wattpad fanfiction, Omegle with the camera on, the beginning of Snapchat. When I was fifteen a group of boys put together a Google Drive folder of all the nudes they had taken or saved - always without consent because let me remind you that I was fifteen - and sent it around to hundreds of people. Fifty Shades of Grey came out during our childhood. The toxic relationships of Bella and Edward, Katniss and Gale, and endless more were written during our childhood. The domination over women has been glorified and sexualised in our society, the men who have abused it not only forgiven but respected. This isn't an old issue but one that is modern, that is crushing, that is still preventing women from equality in our world. And the more things like this that are released, the worse it gets. This isn't just on Netflix; it's the third most trending movie on Netflix. And we're laughing at it, we're joking about the fanfiction we wrote as teenagers, but while we laugh there are real teenagers today who are finding pleasure in this. Teenagers who are believing this is what romance looks like, that this is how women should be in relationships, that it is not only okay but a secretly desirable fantasy to be enslaved by a man.

This is Stockholm syndrome and it isn't sexy, it isn't cute, it isn't love. Laura never loves this man but is manipulated by him, abused by him, hurt by him. He has destroyed her with wealth and physical & emotional abuse and, most of all, with a society that says this is okay, that says this is the romantic goal. This is a rapist, a murderer, an abuser, and he is written to be the source of the most romantic love Laura will ever know. It isn't the film I have a problem with (well, it is, but it's not the main problem) - it's the fact that it exists and the fact that both girls and boys are being conditioned to find pleasure in it, to watch it, to crave it (bringing other gender identities into the conversation is also important, but for the sake of this film and who it represents, I'm only going to mention the impact on those who identify as male or female). The brain is always changing and the young are impressionable; there is a reason why porn is addictive, there is a reason why it has become more and more violent over the years, there is a reason why stuff like this continues to be created and romanticised and eroticised. It's a symptom, not the source.

"He is your caretaker and your defender. When you are with him, you feel like a little girl."

This kind of fantasy always has the same power dynamic: someone in a position of power taking advantage of and abusing a younger figure. It's fine to experiment, it's fine to explore and find enjoyment in different fantasies, it's fine to do exciting things in a safe environment with trusted partners. It is not fine to romanticise this type of abuse and manipulation and statutory-rape fantasy, this ideal of being a little girl taken care of by an older, wealthier, dominant man. And I'm tired of sexual assault being a source of erotic pleasure - I have said it before, I will say it again over and over and over, but you cannot have a sexual assault scene in an erotic film without making the assault itself erotic. Plus, the protagonist assaulted her just as much, if not more, than the men actually written to be called out for their abuse. This entire film glorifies sexual assault and emotional manipulation and toxic relationships. It glorifies the societal ideal of sexualising young girls and older men. It glorifies the exact thing feminists such as myself are fighting against.

We've been fighting against it for a long time. We will be fighting against it for even longer. But I want you to know that this isn't what love looks like. This isn't what a healthy, exciting, erotic relationship looks like. This is dangerous, this is toxic, this will damage impressionable youth for years.

Maybe I shouldn't have written a review because it's clear most of this community isn't taking it seriously, is laughing at it and mocking it for it's sexist and toxic story. But we need to take it seriously because it really isn't funny. And it isn't okay." (https://boxd.it/1dtPdN)
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