365 Days: This Day (Polish title: 365 Dni: Ten Dzień) is a 2022 Polish erotic romance / drama film. It is a sequel to the 2020 film 365 Days and is based on the book of the same name by Blanka Lipińska. It was directed by Barbara Białowąs and Tomasz Mandes, and stars Michele Morrone, Anna Maria Sieklucka, Magdalena Lamparska and Simone Susinna.
After surviving an assassination attempt at the end of the previous film, Polish-born Laura (Sieklicka) marries Sicilian crime boss Massimo Torricelli (Morrone). However, their relationship is strained by Massimo's unwillingness to open up to her and overprotective behavior. Laura begins to wonder if their hasty marriage was a mistake. To complicate things further, Laura finds herself growing close to Nacho (Susinna), her charming and attractive new gardener who offers her a very different lifestyle than that of a gangster's wife. Meanwhile, growing tensions between the crime families could put Laura at risk.
The film was released on Netflix on April 27th 2022.
Spoilers for the first movie are unmarked.
Tropes include:
- Aborted Arc: A near-literal example. At the end of the previous film, Laura had discovered she was pregnant by Massimo and hadn't yet told him. This movie immediately drops that plotline, revealing that Laura had a miscarriage due to the attempted assassination. It causes a little bit of angst for Laura and there's her internal conflict over whether or not to tell Massimo, but ultimately the pregnancy plotline has almost no effect on the story.
- Adaptational Consent: A non-sexual example. In the novel Nacho drugs and kidnaps Laura rather like Massimo did in the first installment. In the film, Laura asks Nacho to take her away from Sicily because she's upset about Massimo ostensibly cheating on her and when Nacho suggests they go to his home in Spain she accepts. It's still questionable given Nacho does have ulterior motives (he was ordered to kidnap Laura) and when she finds out she calls him out for not telling her the truth, but he doesn't explicitly kidnap her and hold her against her will.
- Adaptational Heroism: Nacho, if only by a bit. In the book, Nacho kidnapped Laura to use against Massimo, but developed feelings for her. In the movie, Laura consensually runs off with him after believing Massimo was cheating on her and while he takes advantage of the situation, he doesn't kidnap her or keep her against her will.
- All Girls Want Bad Boys: Surprisingly deconstructed this time. Laura's marriage to mafia don Massimo quickly loses its novelty, as she gets frustrated with him not allowing her to do as she pleases, not opening up to her emotionally and repeatedly prioritizing his work over her. When she seemingly catches him cheating on her after they argued, she quickly leaves him, saying her mother was right about him being bad news. She later tells Nacho she thinks there must be something wrong with her because she keeps falling for the wrong kind of men. She does develop feelings for Nacho, who turns out to be yet another gangster, but her feelings for him are based on his kindness towards her and she rejects him when she learns he deceived her.
- Always Identical Twins: Massimo and his twin brother Adriano are almost identical (both are played by Michele Morrone) with he and Anna taking advantage of this to trick Laura into thinking Massimo cheated on her. The main differences are that Adriano doesn't have his brother's tattoos and he also has one blue eye. Laura is fooled again in the climax until she notices the physical differences.
- Beach Kiss: Laura and Nacho kiss while standing in shallow water at the beach.
- Beta Couple: Between the first movie and this movie, Olga started a relationship with Massimo's underling Domenico (whom she had Ship Tease with in the previous film). Domenico proposes to her at a Christmas party about a third of the way through and she accepts.
- Betty and Veronica: Laura gets into a Love Triangle (yep, there's a love triangle now) with Massimo (Veronica) and Nacho (Betty). Massimo is her hot-tempered and domineering mafia husband. Nacho is her sweet, compassionate and easy-going gardener. It turns out Nacho is also a gangster, albeit he doesn't want this lifestyle and would rather be living a simple, crime-free life.
- Big Fancy House: Laura and Massimo move into a hilltop mansion with sprawling grounds and sea views after their wedding.
- Black Bra and Panties: Laura and Olga both wear matching black underwear, complete with garters and stilettos, while seducing Massimo and Domenico, respectively.
- Bloodier and Gorier: There are more action scenes compared to the first film and more blood spilt onscreen, including a scene where a man rather graphically gets shot in the head and a shoot-out where multiple people get shot in slow-motion with lots of bloodspray. The fight scenes in the first film tended to be kept minimal and/or were shot with low lighting, while in this one they tend to show more graphic detail.
- Bolivian Army Ending: The film ends with Massimo cradling Laura in his arms after she was shot in the side by Anna, with it being uncertain if she'll survive (if one overlooks that there's still another sequel to go).
- Call-Back: For Massimo's Christmas present, Laura sets up a sex scene resembling the scene in the first movie where he tied her to a bed so she could watch him receive oral sex; Laura's even wearing the same kind of outfit and hairstyle as the other woman. This time though, she wants Massimo to have sex with her.
- Cliffhanger Copout: The previous film ended on a big cliffhanger; Laura's car was seen entering a tunnel and not emerging from the other side, while Massimo had simultaneously learned a rival crime family had targeted Laura for assassination. While most viewers knew Laura wasn't going to die, it was uncertain what happened to Laura and how she would get out of this mess. However, the start of this film completely glosses over it and skips ahead to Laura and Massimo's nuptials, with the only explanation being that Laura got into a car accident and came out unscathed save for a miscarriage.
- Cool Car:
- Laura has a sleek black Ferrari which she zooms around Sicily in.
- Nacho has a blue and white Corvette 1992, which Laura herself states is "a cool car".
- Costume Porn: The movie has lots of scenes focusing on fancy designer clothes, especially when Massimo buys Laura her own clothing business.
- Dances and Balls: Laura attends a ball at a hotel with Massimo and her parents. She doesn't have the best time considering that Massimo keeps ignoring her to talk business and she says she wants to leave early. She then appears to catch Massimo having sex with his ex girlfriend in their room and flees the hotel.
- Erotic Dream: Laura starts having these kind of dreams about Nacho, especially as her relationship with Massimo becomes increasingly strained.
- Evil Twin: Massimo is revealed to have one (which is quite an effort on his part considering Massimo's hardly a model citizen himself). Massimo's brother Adriano teams up with Massimo's vengeful ex Anna to drive Laura away from Massimo, as part of a scheme to take over the Torricelli crime family. He always resented Massimo being favored by their father and is even more Ax-Crazy than Massimo, who outright states he wishes Adriano wasn't his brother.
- Fairytale Wedding Dress: Laura wears a white, lacy mermaid-style gown with a long train and veil when she marries Massimo.
- Fatal Attractor: Laura seems to be a magnet for troublesome men. Massimo is a crime boss who seems to expect her to just sit around doing nothing all day and doing exactly as he says for her own protection. Nacho is nicer to her on the surface but she starts to suspect he's keeping secrets and it turns out he's also part of a crime family and had ulterior motives for helping her leave Massimo.
- Foreshadowing: While they're discussing their families, Laura is shocked when Massimo mentions he actually has a brother, though they've been estranged for years. It turns out that Massimo's brother is an identical twin, thus revealing that Laura only thought she saw Massimo cheating on her when it was in fact his brother.
- "Friends" Rent Control: This becomes a plot point. Laura observes how strange it is that Nacho is able to afford a large beach house and other luxury items on a gardener's salary. Nacho vaguely states his father is wealthy. It turns out that Nacho is the son of crime boss Don Matos.
- Good Adultery, Bad Adultery: Massimo having sex with Anna while married to Laura is treated as a terrible betrayal. Laura getting increasingly cosy with Nacho and kissing him while still technically married to Massimo isn't treated as a big deal and is even presented romantically. In fairness, Laura doesn't go off with Nacho specifically to have an affair, and this happens after she learns of Massimo's infidelity and decides to move out. Although it's complicated a bit as it turns out Massimo didn't cheat on Laura.
- Happily Married: Laura's parents have been married for over 30 years and are still deeply in love. Laura's mother says the key to a good marriage is compromise while her father says if the love of his life is happy then so is he, before they have a Dance of Romance. Laura sadly remarks she wishes Massimo looked at her the way her father looks at her mother.
- I Have Your Wife: It's revealed that Don Matos, Adriano and Anna schemed together to kidnap Laura and use her as leverage to force Massimo to hand over control of his organization to Adriano.
- Improbable Hairstyle: After marrying Massimo, Laura dyes her hair from platinum blonde back to black and wears it wavy rather than straightened for the honeymoon. That's not the improbable part; rather, it's the fact that her hair was cut into a long bob ending just above her shoulders, but has inexplicably grown past her shoulders in a few days, tops.
- It Meant Something to Me: When Laura finds out that Nacho is from the Matos crime family and that he was ordered by his father to hold Laura hostage to manipulate Massimo, she accuses Nacho of taking advantage of her vulnerable emotional state after she left her husband to keep her under his roof. Nacho declares that his feelings for her are genuine and that he truly wanted to make her happy.
- Love Forgives All but Lust: Laura puts up with all of Massimo's shortcomings until she walks in on him having sex with his ex Anna (or so she believes). She promptly leaves without a word, saying she can't look at him the same and that she thinks marrying him was a mistake.
- Mama Bear: When she finds out Laura is leaving Massimo because of something he did to hurt her, her mother storms up to Massimo, slaps his face and tells him she always knew he was trouble.
- Making Love in All the Wrong Places: Good grief, where to begin?
- The movie starts with Massimo having sex with Laura on a table, on a balcony where anyone could see them, in her wedding dress mere hours before the ceremony is to take place. Olga in fact does walk in on them and chastises Massimo, saying it's against tradition to see the bride's dress before the ceremony and asking why he couldn't wait until later.
- Laura and Massimo return from their honeymoon to find Olga and Domenico engaged in foreplay on their dining table; Laura makes a point of asking which pieces of furniture she'll need to replace.
- Laura and Massimo have sex on another dining table, then shift to an armchair.
- Laura walks in on Olga and Domenico having sex on a bathroom counter, with the door wide open.
- Never a Self-Made Woman: When Laura expresses that she's bored just sitting around her mansion all day and not being able to go out without Massimo's permission, he buys her a clothing company for Christmas to occupy herself with.
- Rivals Team Up: Nacho and Massimo are rivals for Laura's affections but are quick to team up in the climax to save her when they realize she's been kidnapped by Adriano and Anna.
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here: After she catches Massimo cheating on her, Laura leaves him and catches a ride with Nacho. As she can't bring herself to return home and face Massimo yet, Laura accepts Nacho's offer to stay at his home. She leaves a voice message for her mother partly explaining what happened, then chucks her phone in the ocean and runs off with Nacho.
- Sequel Non-Entity: Mario doesn't appear in this film; it's mentioned that he retired due to his guilt over not preventing Laura's Assassination Attempt.
- Sexy Backless Outfit: Laura wears a sparkly backless evening gown to a formal function.
- Sexy Sweater Girl: Olga wears a tight-fitting white sweater that emphasizes her bust. When she's running down a hill, it's especially noticeable on account of the...er, bouncing.
- Surprisingly Realistic Outcome: Laura is only married to Massimo for a few months when she starts to realize that maybe, just maybe, legally and spiritually tying herself to a crime boss who was so obsessed with her he kidnapped her wasn't such a good idea, and that he's hardly going to stop controlling her life now she's his wife.
- Tragic Stillbirth: It's mentioned early on that Laura suffered a miscarriage due to the orchestrated car accident at the end of the previous film. She has yet to tell Massimo, who didn't even know she was pregnant. Olga urges her to tell him, as she thinks starting a marriage with secrets is a bad idea, but Laura is concerned Massimo will start a Mob War over it. Laura is still affected by the miscarriage, as when Nacho mentions his sister is pregnant Laura drops the glass she's holding in shock. Massimo finally finds out when his brother - while holding Laura at gunpoint - states he wonders who their child would've resembled more, sarcastically remarking that they'll never know now.
- Two-Person Pool Party: Laura and Massimo make out in a hot tub on their honeymoon.
- The Unfavorite:Adriano states Massimo was favored by their father and got to be his heir purely because he was 10 minutes older. It's implied it's actually because while Massimo has his flaws, he's a lot smarter and less violently unstable than Adriano.
- Watching the Sunset: Laura and Nacho watch the sun setting over the ocean together from inside a cave.
- Woman Scorned: Massimo's Psycho Ex-Girlfriend Anna is back and is still trying to win over Massimo, saying Laura could never understand his lifestyle the way she does ( The worst/best part is that she might be right, because unlike Laura, who is in denial that her husband is a psychotic man, she knows perfectly well that Massimo is a bad person and accepts him for what he is rather than intentionally becoming delude or believe that " he's not that bad " ) . She also teams up with Adriano to trick Laura into leaving Massimo; when that fails due to Massimo's suspicions, Anna seems to decide holding Laura hostage to manipulate him is the way to go and she ends up shooting Laura when she tries to escape. Anna states outright she's motivated by revenge against Massimo for dumping her for Laura.
