This Article Contains Spoilers for The Next 365 Days.Netflix's 365 Days trilogy is rarely great, yet the three movies can still be ranked in order from the worst entry to the best. The popular trio of erotic thrillers, directed by duo Barbara Białowąs and Tomasz Mandes, is adapted from a series of novels written by Blanka Lipińska. The 365 Days movie tell the story of a Polish woman, Laura (Anna-Maria Sieklucka), who falls in love with Massimo (Michele Morrone), the head of a Sicilian Mafia family.
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The first 365 Days film came to prominence after it was released on Netflix in June 2020, after receiving a limited theatrical release earlier in the year. The two sequels to 365 Days were filmed concurrently. 365 Days: This Day, the second movie in the franchise, was released straight to Netflix in April 2022 after production delays due to the COVID-19 pandemic. That movie's sequel, The Next 365 Days, which is also the final movie in the trilogy, was released in August 2022, also exclusively on Netflix.
All three 365 Days movies have been met with controversy due to their depictions of sex, lack of consent, and the glorification of domestic abuse. Multiple open letters and petitions were sent to Netflix and its CEO, Reed Hastings, to remove 365 Days from its streaming catalog. However, all of these attempts were unsuccessful. Despite this controversy, and its truly abysmal critical reception (all three movies have amassed exactly zero positive reviews on Rotten Tomatoes), the 365 Days trilogy has become incredibly popular on Netflix. Each 365 Days movie spent multiple weeks on the Netflix Global Top 10 Films list. Here are all three 365 Days movies ranked from worst to best.
The Next 365 Days
The Next 365 Days is not only bad, it's boring. While the third entry in the movie trilogy continues to smooth over some of the more unsavory aspects of the first installment, The Next 365 Days fails to replace them with anything noteworthy or memorable. The sequel begins by almost completely ignoring the dramatic consequences of Laura's shooting, which created the dramatic cliffhanger that ended 365 Days: This Day. The only issue that seems to arise from the injury stemming from Laura's fake death in 365 Days: This Day is she cannot have sex for the film's first 10 minutes. However, The Next 365 Days is quick to rectify that problem.
The sex scenes in The Next 365 Days are neither as numerous as those in 365 Days: This Day nor as outrageous as the sex scenes in the original 365 Days. Instead of sex, The Next 365 Days attempts to entertain with the most poorly balanced, one-sided love triangle in film history. Laura is forced to choose between her emotionally stunted and poorly acted husband, Massimo, and the comparatively decent human being Nacho (Simone Susinna). However, Laura's choice is rendered dramatically inert by The Next 365 Days's cliffhanger twist ending. The climax has none of the drama of the previous two 365 installments' conclusions, simply ending before Laura reveals her choice of which of her two lovers she'll stay with.
365 Days
The controversial first entry in the 365 Days trilogy ranks higher than The Next 365 Days, though it is not so much because it's a better movie but because it's slightly more entertaining. The Next 365 Days is truly a slog to get through, whereas 365 Days shocks viewers with where it is willing to go with both its story and its sex scenes. There is a reason that 365 Days garnered so much attention and controversy in the first place: it's essentially an even schlockier version of Fifty Shades of Grey. The premise of 365 Days, following a Mafioso kidnapping a woman and giving her a year to fall in love with him, is utterly preposterous, but it is almost the perfect guilty pleasure setup.
365 Days also ranks above The Next 365 Days because it actually has a compelling ending. The climax of 365 Days sees a pregnant Laura potentially killed by a rival Mafia family. It was this cliffhanger that began the series' trademark for ridiculous endings that continued until the very disappointing end.
365 Days: This Day
365 Days: This Day ranks above the other two movies in the series due to it being able to effectively replace the original's more controversial elements and by fully embracing soap opera storytelling. 365 Days: This Day includes outrageous subplots, such as the sudden appearance of Massimo's ex, Laura beginning a will-they-or-won't-they romance with gangster-turned-gardener Nacho, and in the most hilarious twist, the reveal of Massimo's evil twin brother, Adriano. The plot comes to a climax with Nacho and Massimo having to team up against the latter's ex and twin in order to save their mutual love interest. 365 Days: This Day is utterly silly and a much more fun watch than the other two movies in the trilogy.
365 Days: This Day also knows exactly what viewers are tuning in for. The opening 40 minutes of the movie is mostly a collection of sex scenes, filmed in beautiful locations and edited like music videos, each one more hilarious than the last. The best scene in this movie and possibly the entire franchise, shows Massimo and Laura engaging in foreplay on the golf course. Massimo putts a ball towards Laura's crotch, which seems less erotic and more like a quick way to end up in the ER. With its combination of soap opera-level drama and hilarious sex scenes, the second movie in the 365 Days trilogy easily ranks as the best.