Netflix’s Megahit ‘365 Days’ Series Has Impressive Double 0% Scores

The debate over Netflix’s quality standards continues to be ongoing, and for every solid Ozark finale they put up or Heartstopper they release, what ends up rising to the top of the charts every other week always seems to follow a similar pattern.

While we are normally focused on the TV side of things with Netflix, the movie end is where things can get even more curious. Certainly, Netflix has found some good originals like the Oscar-caliber Power of the Dog. But in terms of what’s actually massively popular from its original movie offerings? One curious case stands out, the 365 Days series of movies.

There are two movies so far, 365 Days, which came out in July 2021, and now 365 Days: This Day, which premiered this past week. These are actually Polish films, but Netflix has gotten the distribution rights, so they’re technically Netflix originals. It’s very clear they want to traffic in the same kind of attention that made the 50 Shades of Gray series so popular, and they’re erotic thrillers.

They’re also, by all accounts, terrible erotic thrillers. Both 365 Days movies have some of the lowest ratings I’ve ever seen for a Netflix original movie production. Or mainstream movies just…in general.

365 Days:

• 0% from critics on Rotten Tomatoes, 29% audience score
• 3.3/10 on IMDB
• 1.2 user score on Metacritic

365 Days: This Day:

• 0% from critics on Rotten Tomatoes, 19% audience score
• 2.6/10 on IMDB
• 8/100 Metacritic score, 0.8 user score

And these are not random movies I’m cherrypicking, they are very popular on Netflix. The original 365 Days movie spent almost two weeks in the number one spot on the service, and the sequel instantly debuted at #1. The original was also in the top 10 list for more than an entire month

What’s the disconnect here? Well, the films are…more or less extremely close to softcore pornography. That’s not a judgement, it’s just a fact, but softcore pornography is not exactly well known for having terribly compelling storylines or performances, and that seems to be the main issue here. So critics hate it, fans claim to hate it, and yet millions of people are watching it. Sex, it seems, sells.

MORE FROM FORBES‘365 Days’ Is Breaking Netflix Records Like No Other Movie In 2020By Travis Bean

Again, this becomes a question of what Netflix wants. Does it want its top series half the time being trashy reality shows and its top movies being bad 50 Shades knockoffs? Maybe! Because they’re getting views, but then they can’t be surprised when the conversation turns to an overall quality dropoff within the service while its competition is cementing a reputation for higher quality fare (Apple and HBO Max, especially, lately).

We’ll see if 365 Days: Part 3 ends up making it here in a few more months, and perhaps we’ll have part of an answer, if so.

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