Trigger warning: Kidnapping, sexual assault, Stockholm Syndrome
This movie – originally released in February 2020 – took the internet by storm following its release to Netflix in June 2020. It became a viral sensation on TikTok after content creators started reviewing the movie, many claiming it had a certain sexual appeal to it, even going as far as to say that it was FAR better than the 50 Shades of Grey Trilogy. So, naturally, I had to see it for myself.
365 Dni – directly translating from Polish to 365 Days – is set in Sicily, Italy. Laura is spending her birthday with her boyfriend and sometime during the night she wanders off and runs into Massimo – a Sicilian Mafia Leader. He subsequently kidnaps her.
Laura wakes up at his villa. A confrontation ensues and she tries to escape. Massimo reveals that 5 years ago when he and his father were shot he saw Laura on the beach and made it his mission to find her. The premise of the movie is unveiled: Massimo gives Laura 365 days to fall in love with him. Over the course of the movie, Laura falls in love with him and they get engaged.
There are two main problems with this movie: the romanticizing of Stockholm Syndrome and sexual assault featured in the film.
According to Britannica, Stockholm Syndrome is a psychological response in which someone being held captive or against their will begins to identify or relate closely with their captor, as well as their needs or demands. Psychologists and other experts who have studied this response believe that the bond or connection is created when the captor threatens to take the captive’s life, and ultimately decides not to. The captive then feels gratitude to the captor instead of fear.
Survival instinct is at the core of Stockholm Syndrome. Victims of Stockholm Syndrome live in forced dependence with their captor and come to interpret small acts of kindness amidst horrible treatment as good treatment. They also become hypervigilant to the needs of their captor and anticipate their emotions in order to make them happy. Later, victims of Stockholm Syndrome hate anything that threatens their bond with their captor and fail to see what is wrong with the situation. Stockholm Syndrome is also closely associated with the fawn response – which is a trauma response that entails ‘people pleasing’ in order to survive or cope with trauma. Stockholm Syndrome has even been linked to domestic violence.
Such is the case with Laura. For the first few days she does try to escape but soon discovers that Massimo has connections all over Sicily and that she is trapped. That is when survival instincts kicks in and Laura has to choose between life or death.
The bond between Laura and Massimo forms quite early on in the film. There are many small acts of kindness from Massimo to Laura that makes him seem like a good guy, but he is not. All of these acts of kindness exemplify his possessive nature and his need for control over Laura. He ‘allows’ her to have a cell phone and a laptop, he forces her to have fancy dinners with him, takes her to flashy clubs and parties, and he buys her expensive designer clothes. Later in the film, Laura experiences a near-drowning and Massimo pulls her out of the water. Laura sees this as an act of heroism, that he saved her. Her gratitude towards him extends as does the bond.
Later in the film when Laura rekindles with a friend, she does not even describe or see it as a kidnapping anymore, simply as a man she fell in love with and is to marry. Despite her friend trying to warn her about Massimo and the true nature of their abusive relationship, Laura defends Massimo.
Laura is a textbook example of Stockholm Syndrome.
This movie portrays the relationship between Laura and Massimo as a steamy romance when it is everything but. The movie justifies the abusive relationship between them where Massimo repeatedly takes away her autonomy under the guise of seemingly kind and romantic gestures.
Massimo claims at the beginning of the film that he would do nothing without Laura’s consent, but there is a very explicit scene in the movie where he sexually assaults her without consent. Without going into detail, he traps Laura in a hotel room, ignores her pleas for him to let her leave and, after sexually assaulting her, he lets her leave. He exercises his control over her. The movie portrays this as sexy and dominant when it is really just predatory behaviour and sexual assault.
Many viewers took to Twitter to express the same concerns of the film: The glamorisation and romanticizing of Stockholm Syndrome, predatory behaviour, and sexual assault. In a world riddled with violence against women, is this the type of content that viewers need to see?
Kidnapping is not romantic; it is a crime. 365 Dni is NOT worth the hype.