‘365 Days’ review— The new Fifty Shades of Grey

Rated: R

Genre: Drama/Erotic film

Initial release: February 7, 2020 (Poland)

Languages spoken: Polish/Italian/English

Running time: 1h 56m

Director/Writer: Barbara Białowas

365 Dni is the original title of the movie in Polish, which translates to 365 days. This movie was alright— but it wasn’t a cinematic masterpiece. I would describe it to be cliche in many aspects. At times, the movie progressed rather slow but then sped up a lot quicker than anticipated. In the beginning of the movie you'll be very confused as to where the plot is going, but as certain events happen you’ll get a better understanding. The storyline is different to the one in the Fifty Shades of Grey series. It’s an immitation, in my perspective. There isn’t a lot of BDSM involved, it’s typically shown in one specific scene of the movie. It does display a lot of masculine dominance though.

I should also mention this movie is based off a 3 series novel which obviously didn't meet the book's expectations. There were slight scene deviations and changes to impart important information from the scenes that time restrictions do not allow— but they did so to improvise the drama. A lot of important scenes in the novel were changed in the movie as well, which isn’t a big deal becasue a lot of films tend to do that nowadays.

I will admit, the disobedience of the main protagonist, in some scenes were uncalled for. You see very minimum love between the characters. In order for the woman of his vision to fall in love with him he lavished her with riches instead of winning her over with his personality. And basically forces her into submission and makes her surrender to him. The feeling of obsession and lust were very visible throughout the movie. I could see very little chemistry amongst the characters.

It was brought to my attention, that this Polish film feels more like a Wattpad series turned into a movie. It evolves around mafia romance which a lot of Wattpad readers fantasize about. If you haven’t had the slightest clue as to what Wattpad is— just to summarize it— it’s a website where individuals write fanfictions, most stories consist of erotic content.

365 Days lacked further information and left us with many questions as to what the plot would become. Not only that, but it left us wondering about the characters themselves. Such as their past, their emotions, their actions. Just the basic list of questions spectators have. It’s crucial to get to know the characters in depth, in my opinion. I’m the type of person that likes to see a person progress throughout the story, or even get a glimpse of their past because it builds a connection with the characters and viewers.

The sexy scenes made this whole film worth watching—I mean both actors are very attractive—which is why it grew in popularity so rapidly. The steamy scenes left me hot and bothered—simple as that. They were graphic in every good way. It was a mixture between rough sex and slight bondage. This does overthrow the roughness shown in Fifty Shades of Grey, 365 Days actually had better sex scenes. Nothing too crazy but it fulfilled everyone’s cravings.

Massimo (Michele Morrone), the male protagonist and the heir to a major criminal organization, is depicted as a very seductive and masculine figure which is what was so captivating about him. He was definitely an upgrade compared to Christian Grey. His accent is bound to make you melt. The characters in this movie were presented to look appealing to the eye to catch the audience’s attention— it worked.

I'm not completely disappointed in the movie, it does have potential but it may not be everyone's cup of tea. It could use some improvements with the progression of the plot and characters. The one thing that got under my skin is that they portrayed the main female protagonist as an object rather than a human being throughout the story— a damsel in distress.

It exhibited more action than it ever did in Fifty Shades of Grey, which is a plus. The action in this surprisingly ran along smoothly and it gave the film the perfect touch to it. As I mentioned before, this film isn’t a cinematic masterpiece but the actors did an astounding job with their roles when it came to the action sequences. What fascinated me the most in the movie is the variety of languages spoken by the actors and actresses, it just made the characters look more charming.

365 Days displayed some of the European culture throughout many shots in the movie. It made me want to travel and see these sites for myself. I will give them kudos for showing the beautiful scenery of Italy. The soundtrack wasn't too bad either, the R&B tunes they used stood out to me and were relatively catchy.

I feel like the directors did an amazing job and the script wasn’t too bad but it could use some spice to it. But I’ll take what they had to offer— it wasn’t too mediocre. The camerawork was actually impressive, they did an amazing job and the unique style of filming salvaged the movie. There's rumored to be a sequel coming out soon.

Personal Rating:

★★★☆☆