365 DNI on Netflix slammed for ‘glamorising Stockholm syndrome’

While some viewers fiercely debate whether or not the sex in this new Netflix movie is real, others are “horrified” by one key element.

Hostage situation lust is not exactly healthy.

Controversial Polish flick 365 DNI became available on Netflix subscribers this week, and although viewers report the film’s many moments of intimacy are convincing, they find the relationship more akin to a disturbing form of Stockholm syndrome, rather than true love.

“Just finished #365Dni & while the sex scenes were great, the story itself just romanticises kidnapping & a forced relationship,” tweets one viewer of the film, which is about Sicilian Mafia boss Massimo Torricelli (Michele Morrone) and luxury hotel sales director Laura Biel (Anna Maria Sieklucka). The madman kidnaps Biel while she’s on a birthday trip in Sicily, keeping her hostage in his villa and giving her one year to fall in love with him. Many sexually explicit scenes ensue, including one very memorable moment on a boat.

365 DNI has got Netflix viewers talking.

“You basically just watch shawty get Stockholm syndrome,” the reviewer continues, referring to the condition in which a person held against their will comes to sympathise deeply with their abductor.

The term originated in 1973, when a woman kidnapped during a bank robbery in Stockholm, Sweden, inexplicably expressed concern for her captors after she was freed.

Other viewers also criticised the film:

Just Watched the movie 365 DNI, I hate it. It glorifies being kidnapped, rape, and Stockholm syndrome. No matter how handsome he is I feel like this isn’t something that should be praised. Speaking from a rape/sexually molested victim this was too much. #rapevictim #365dni

— Astrid Floores (@AstridFloores) June 10, 2020

#365dni story is trash - it romanticizes kidnapping & a forced relationship .. that wasn't love it was stockholm syndrome

— beta do povo (@mimixolivix) June 9, 2020

so which 12 y/o, wattpad, stockholm-syndrome repackaged as a love story, borderline abuse fest did they rip this idea from?#365dni pic.twitter.com/fykqdH4gpf

— tired.jpg (@banana_chipzz) June 2, 2020

I watched #365dni and I'm mostly cringing and horrified. It's 50 shades of Stockholm Syndrome.

— Olivia (@seesaw1988) June 9, 2020

A girl is kidnapped by a mafia boss, raped, she develops Stockholm’s syndrome for her kidnapper and is re-kidnapped by a rival boss and somehow this is romantic movie of the year for you guys #365dni pic.twitter.com/IcHMWeL5S1

— Hrithik (@OnyiiSequoia) June 9, 2020

“Watched 365 DNI bec of the noise it created. Can I just say that the movie IS TOO OVERRATED. I can only cringe over their lines, predictable story plot, and unrealistic twists,” critiques another non-fan. “You know what it is called when u fall in love with ur kidnapper? It’s Stockholm syndrome. Not love sis.”

Not your average love story.

The flick’s glamorising of criminal power dynamics is not only poorly executed but sends a bad message, critics say.

“Please remember that there is a huge difference between fantasy and reality,” writes another of the movie, which some are calling the Polish Fifty Shades Of Grey for its displays of voyeurism and BDSM. “If you are a guy, please don’t get any ideas. No girl wants to be kidnapped and made to fall in love.”

That the plot is problematic and lacking isn’t an issue for those who find ogling Morrone, 29, sufficiently distracting.

Everybody’s talking about *that* yacht scene. Picture: Netflix

This story originally appeared on the New York Post and is republished here with permission.