The current Number 1 Trending film on UK Netflix is 365 Days. This is a 2020 Polish “erotica romantic drama” film in which a young woman called Laura is kidnapped and imprisoned by ‘bad boy’ Massimo. He tells her that he is going to keep her captive until she ‘falls in love with him’. 

The reason she doesn’t immediately plan her escape? Massimo tells her she’s the girl he’s always dreamed of, and he will kill her parents if she attempts to flee. 

Within the first 15 minutes of this film, Massimo forces a flight attendant to perform oral sex on him, choking her to the point her eyes are streaming. He ties Laura up so she cannot escape her captivity and assaults her. He chains a struggling Laura to the bed and forces her to watch a sex worker perform oral sex on him. When a member of a rival family attempts to rape Laura, he blames her for it, throws her off his yacht, then pulls her out of the water and blames her for that as well. He shoves her against an open window, exposes her and forces himself inside her to have anal sex. 

Netflix’s category for this film? “Romantic”. 

The idea that women* should feel romanced or aroused by being treated as an object, raped and sexually assaulted is abhorrent and should not be allowed on this platform.  

This film teaches that Massimo continually rapes her because he ‘can’t control himself’ as she is just so attractive, and it is a compliment to her. This film teaches that men should pursue women* until they give in rather than respecting their wishes. This film teaches that women* secretly enjoy sexual violence and non consensual sex. This film teaches that an abuser and his victim could be considered a romantic relationship. 

This film will perpetuate sexual violence. 

It will result in impressionable young people growing up believing it is not only acceptable to assault and rape women*, but women* enjoy this and consider it sexy. It will perpetuate the perception of women* as objects of male desire rather than sexually autonomous. 

This film is not only uncomfortable viewing. It is wrong. 

By promoting this on its platform, Netflix is condoning the emotional and physical abuse, sexual assault, rape, gaslighting, objectification and over-sexualisation of women*, and glamourization of abuse in this film. 

Please join me in preventing the further damage that this film will cause and calling on Netflix to remove 356 Days from their platform.