Tamal Kundu
‘The Next 365 Days’ is the third entry in Netflix’s ‘365 Days’ film series. It is based on the third and final book of Polish cosmetologist and author Blanka Lipińska’s ‘365 dni’ trilogy. In the first film, Massimo Torricelli (Michele Morrone), the head of a Sicilian mob family, abducts Laura Biel (Anna-Maria Sieklucka) and declares that he will keep her his prisoner for 365 days and make her fall in love with him. In ‘365 Days: This Day,’ despite the questionable start of their relationship, Laura and Massimo seem very much in love, though she hasn’t told him that she was pregnant when his enemies targeted her and she lost the baby. She comes to believe Massimo is cheating on her and runs away to an island with Nacho (Simone Susinna), who Laura thinks is their gardener. It is later revealed that the man she thought was Massimo is actually his twin brother Adriano, and Nacho is the son of the same enemy that previously came after her.
‘365 Days: This Day’ ends on a cliffhanger. Laura is shot, and the film ends before it is revealed whether she survives her injuries or not. The third film shows that she has, but it seems that her feelings for Massimo haven’t. The time she spent on that island with Nacho had a tremendous effect on her, and now she is in love with him. Here is everything you need to know about the ending of ‘The Next 365 Days.’ SPOILERS AHEAD.
The Next 365 Days Plot Synopsis
The film begins with a funeral and a meeting between Massimo and Nacho’s father. It is heavily implied that Laura is dead in these early scenes, which is revealed to be a misdirection. The funeral is for Adriano. Nacho’s father tries to lessen the animosity between the two groups by reminding Massimo that a war between them will be too costly for both parties. In response, Massimo warns Nacho and his father to stay away from Sicily and gives them an hour to leave.
Laura has survived her ordeal, though there are scars — physical, mental, and emotional. She wants her life to return to normalcy, but both Massimo and her friend Olga (Magdalena Lamparska) treat her as if she is fragile like a glass figurine, much to her frustration. Laura’s desire for things to go back to how things used to be stems from desperation on a personal level. She gradually realizes that she is no longer the person who went to that island. Her experience there has changed her fundamentally. It doesn’t take her long to figure out the reason for this: she is unequivocally in love with Nacho. She has sex dreams about the man and even wakes up one day believing that she is with Nacho, when it is actually Massimo.
Laura tries to speak about her conflicting feelings to Olga, but the latter is too busy with her own relationship with Domenico, one of Massimo’s most trusted lieutenants. While it’s not like they don’t spend time together, Laura seems to feel that Olga has grown closer to Massimo’s crime family than she is to her in the past few months.
Laura realizes that Massimo has figured out something is wrong. We later learn Massimo has always known about what happened on the island. During a work trip to Portugal, Laura runs into Nacho and his sister, Amelia. The emotions she is desperately trying to suppress explode out of her with a vengeance, making her realize that she will have to choose.
The Next 365 Days Ending: Who Does Laura Choose: Massimo or Nacho?
The relationship between Massimo and Laura began in dubious circumstances. He was her abductor — a controlling, troubled, and temperamental man. The first film garnered widespread criticism because of the inherently toxic relationship between the two main characters, and one can argue that it was quite justifiable. In the first sequel, just like in the second book of Lipińska’s trilogy, things were toned down dramatically, and Nacho is introduced as a character, likely to counterbalance Massimo and give Laura a choice beyond the heavily restrictive partnership that she has with the Sicilian mob boss.
In the second film, a relationship develops between Laura and Nacho, though under a false pretext. Massimo hasn’t cheated on Laura, and Nacho is not a gardener but the son of a rival mob boss. It seems to end abruptly after Laura gets shot. However, as it’s revealed in ‘The Next 365 Days,’ the emotions they felt for each other were very genuine, and they have lingered. Nacho risks his life and that of his father by approaching Laura, and the latter seems to think that her marriage is all but over. It’s a whirlwind romance full of passion and hot steamy sex, with danger lurking in the periphery. Perhaps most importantly for Laura, it’s a relationship where she gets to make a choice every step of the way.
Ironically, Nacho is not that different from Massimo. He may not have kidnapped Laura, but he still brings her to the island in the second film, knowing fully that she is a victim of an elaborate lie. After all, he is an active participant in that lie. He and his father betray their Sicilian co-conspirators and decide to bring her to the island. Moreover, we are not entirely sure whether Laura knows this in the third film: Nacho’s father orchestrated the incident that caused her miscarriage. In ‘The Next 365 Days,’ Laura justifiably points out to Massimo how tumultuous their life is because of his enemies. But she must know that things will not be any better with Nacho in this regard. He is also deeply embroiled in mob life.
The film ends abruptly, without providing a definitive answer to the question about her eventual choice. This is bound to cause sequel speculations. And if there isn’t any sequel, and this is all we will ever get, one can speculate about Netflix’s reasons for doing this.
In the book, Massimo seemingly turns evil. Laura ends up with Nacho, and they have a child together. Because of this ending, the third book has received criticism from the readers who are apparently fans of the first one. The ending that we get in the film is probably a way to negate this response. Laura discovers that Massimo has known about her affair all along. Despite this, he hasn’t done anything. She begins to have doubts about ending the marriage and even dreams about being in bed together with both Nacho and Massimo.
Laura eventually decides to go back to Sicily and speak to her husband. Nacho risks his life and enters Massimo’s territory to drive Laura to her home. In the car, Laura once more tells Nacho that she needs time. The film ends as she speaks to her husband on the beach near their home. He asks her whether she is back. The credits start rolling before she answers. Given the trajectory of the film and the preferred ending of the writer of the source material, we can presume that she ends up with Nacho. However, Netflix allows its viewers to draw their own conclusion about what Laura’s choice will be. The viewers can pick Nacho, Massimo, or both. If the viewers want, Laura can even leave all this ridiculousness behind and starts afresh.
