The Books That Inspired "365 Dni" Are Even Wilder Than the Movie, If That's Possible (2024)

• The popular Netflix movie 365 Dni (or 365 Days) is based on a book series by Blanka Lipińska.
• The movie ends with a cliffhanger that threatens Massimo (Michele Morrone) and Laura's (Anna Maria Sieklucka) future together.
• Does Laura survive the ending of 365 Dni? The books by Blanka Lipinska give away the ending, along with other spoilers.

365 Dni (or 365 Days) is one of the most popular movies on Netflix—and certainly one of the most conversation-starting, as well. In the romantic thriller, a Polish woman named Laura (Anna Maria Sieklucka) is kidnapped by Massimo, a Sicilian mobster (Michele Morrone) bent on seducing her.

By the end of the film, Massimo's dastardly plan has actually worked. Laura is enamored, and set to walk down the aisle with her brawny kidnapper—until an assassination attempt threatens their future.

If you've seen 365 Dni on Netflix, then you know the movie's cliffhanger is just one of its many lingering, plot-related questions. Luckily, the resolution to 365 Dni's ending is found in the book trilogy by Blanka Lipińska, which inspired the movie.

Based on the novels, Laura survives the ending of 365 Dni. In fact, Laura has two more books of madness to survive. Lipińska's trilogy, which has been compared to50 Shades of Grey by E.L. James, has more twists in store for Laura and Massimo—including secret twins, heart transplants, and manipulative games of one-upmanship. Below, we'll spoil them all.

What happens to Laura at the end of 365 Dni?

By the movie's end, Laura has come around to Massimo's vision of their relationship. She's pregnant and wearing an engagement ring fit for a billionaire's wife. After a jaunt to buy a wedding dress, Olga and Laura are returning to Massimo's Sicilian fortress (read: prison).

That's when Mario (Bronislaw Wroclawski), Massimo's consigliere, gets the call: Someone has put out an assassination attempt on Laura. Did Massimo's ex-lover, Anna (Natasza Urbanska, who is literally credited as "Massimo's ex-lover"), follow through on her threats? Or are Massimo's enemies behind the attack? And why does Mario get a warning—is he double-crossing his fire-eyed boss?

Either way, Laura loses cell phone service before Mario can warn her. The movie ends with the strongest evidence that Massimo feels conventional emotion: He sinks to the ground, screaming. It's unclear whether or not Laura's black SUV emerges from the coastal tunnel unharmed.

Were assassins waiting in the tunnel? Kidnappers? Cave trolls? We don't know! If Laura, indeed, is killed in that coastal tunnel, then everyone else in the 365 Dni universe should be quaking with fear. 365 Dni could easily become the two-hour-long backstory of a revenge film about a craven, but undeniably handsome, man tracking down everyone who wronged his true love.

However, based on the fact that it's based on a book series, we can assume Laura does survive.

The books give us a clue about Laura and Massimo's future.

365 Dni is based on a series of Polish-language books by Blanka Lipińska. For their BDSM-laced sex scenes and their glowering billionaire romantic lead, the series is often referred to as Poland's 50 Shades of Grey. The first two books, 365 Dni (365 Days) and Ten dzień (That Day), were both published in 2018. The third and final book, Kolejne 365 dni (Another 365 Days), came out in 2019.

The completed trilogy is teeming with spoilers about Laura and Massimo's future. The biggest, and most obvious, reveals that Laura lives and their relationship remains highly problematic.

Lipińska's books are set within a few months of each other. Ten Dzién picks up exactly where 365 Dni left off. Laura survives the assassination attempt, and continues on her (perhaps ill-advised) mission to marry and start a family with Massimo. Even the book summary expresses skepticism with Laura's decision-making.

"Everything would be perfect, if not for the fact that gangsters are all around, crime hangs in the air, someone is constantly trying to kidnap and kill her, and her best friend Olga blindly follows in her footsteps. Being the wife of the most dangerous man in Sicily has its consequences and Laura will find this out painfully," the summary reads, per Newsweek's translation.

The second book furthers the supporting characters' storylines. Lipińska reveals Massimo's evil British twin, Adriano, like a soap opera trope magic trick—ta da! Unsurprisingly, Olga and Domenico, bond over their nature as side kicks and start dating.

But the real action comes in Laura and Massimo's ever-upsetting relationship. Laura is kidnapped by another aesthetically pleasing, but morally reprehensible man: Marcelo "Nacho" Matos. We're sorry to report that Laura also "falls for" her latest kidnapper, leading to a twisted love triangle.

The third book got fans angry.

Judging by the Goodreads page, which is peppered with scathing one-star reviews, fans of the series are devastated by the series' ending.

Among the third book's plot progressions? Laura has a miscarriage. She struggles with alcohol addiction. She requires a heart transplant, and Nacho—her second mob boss boyfriend—procures the heart. Massimo kills Laura's dog, which she named Prada, and sends it to her in a box. Massimo kidnaps her again and tries to get her pregnant. In the end, Laura runs away with Nacho and becomes pregnant with his child.

With disturbing twist after twist, Kolejne 365 dni subverts the notion that 365 Dni series is a love story at all (because it's not). While Massimo is framed as a romantic lead, his behavior in Kolejne 365 dni is a reminder of his rotten core. In the end, he turns out to be a possessive, vindictive partner, incapable of change. Lipińska seems to relish in plotting his downfall.

There will be a movie sequel, right?

Yes! The sequel to 365 Days was supposed to begin production in Sicily in August, according to an Instagram Live with stars Anna Maria Sieklucka and Magdalena Lamparska, per Newsweek. However, production was delayed due to the coronavirus.

We could think about how the pandemic might affect the quality of the sequel's steamy scenes, but we are definitively choosing not to. Fingers crossed for another yacht scene—if you know, you know. 'Til then, we'll bookmark Morrone's Instagram page.

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