Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Measured
- Intensity
- Strong
- Complexity
- Layered
- Violence
- Moderate
- oppressive
- sardonic
- bleak
- late night cinephile viewing
- austrian cinema marathon
What critics said
Critics broadly regard the film as a visionary, uncompromising, and disturbing portrait of Viennese suburban alienation, though its deliberate unpleasantness divides viewers.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
The sweltering Viennese suburban summer amplifies aggression, frustration, and interpersonal discomfort.
Teachers, couples, workers, and elderly residents drift through an oppressive suburb marked by loneliness and disillusion.
The teacher, hitchhiker, detective, troubled couple, and old man live separate stories that intermittently cross.
Critical reception emphasizes the disturbing vision, torture scene, and director Ulrich Seidl's relish for social unpleasantness.
Films like Dog Days, and why
The Seventh Continent
shared austrian art-film austerity, social alienation, abrasive interpersonal behavior, and observational suburban realism
Happiness
shared bleak social satire, fragmented encounters, emotional cruelty, and formally controlled realism
Short Cuts
shared uncomfortable ensemble drama, loneliness, sexual frustration, and uncompromising depiction of damaged social worlds
The White Ribbon
shared oppressive summer atmosphere, moral disquiet, and disturbing portrait of communal aggression
Movie Details
- Director
- Ulrich Seidl
- Release Date
- 2001-09-03
- Runtime
- 122 min
- Rating
- 6.6 / 10 (108)
Cast
- Maria Hofstätter
- Alfred Mrva
- Franziska Weisz
- Christine Jirku
- Viktor Hennemann
- Georg Friedrich
- Claudia Martini
- Victor Rathbone
- Gerti Lehner
- Erich Finsches
Common questions
- What is Dog Days about?
- During a suffocating Viennese summer, disconnected suburban lives collide in a brutally comic anatomy of loneliness, aggression, and disillusion.
- What is Dog Days like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of Dog Days as measured, its intensity as strong and its storytelling as layered.
- Is Dog Days violent?
- Somewhat. Ember rates the violence in Dog Days as moderate.
- What did critics think of Dog Days?
- Critics broadly regard the film as a visionary, uncompromising, and disturbing portrait of Viennese suburban alienation, though its deliberate unpleasantness divides viewers.
- Which films are like Dog Days?
- Films with a similar feel include The Seventh Continent, Happiness, Short Cuts, and The White Ribbon.
- How long is Dog Days?
- Dog Days runs 122 minutes.
