Dog Days
Kino International | Release Date: August 22, 2003 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
66
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 14 Critic Reviews
Positive:
9
Mixed:
5
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
Chicago TribuneMichael Wilmington
Be forewarned: Dog Days, like many of Seidel's films, will drive some moviegoers to rage and walkouts with its unrelentingly depressing tone. But it also a remarkable, deeply disturbing work by a brilliant filmmaker. Read full review
90
VarietyDeborah Young
An acid portrait of contemporary Austria (and by extension, the whole middle class) as unspeakably dull, violent and stupid. The film itself, miraculously, is just the opposite: vibrantly inventive, aesthetically rigorous, sardonic and occasionally quite brilliant. Read full review
80
The New York TimesA.O. Scott
The believability comes from the casting: he has found a group of actors and nonprofessionals who interact spectacularly well. Read full review
75
New York PostV.A. Musetto
Dog Days has much in common with "Code Unknown" -- both dart among several characters who may occasionally cross paths. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleEdward Guthmann
His (Seidl) camera is shocking in its intimacy, his film surprisingly casual in its depiction of extreme behavior and the randomness of violence. Read full review
70
TV Guide MagazineKen Fox
Looks very much like a documentary: It's grainy and raw, and Seidl's actors -- a mix of actors and non-professionals -- are often unglamorously posed under what appears to be natural light. Read full review
70
The Hollywood ReporterFrank Scheck
Willfully provocative, much like a small child performing outrageous acts just to get some attention. Read full review
70
L.A. WeeklyScott Foundas
Dog Days is in fact a bleak but deeply felt humanism -- a yearning that we might all learn to better love our neighbors and, perhaps more importantly, ourselves. Read full review
70
Los Angeles TimesManohla Dargis
Strangely entertaining. Read full review
50
Village VoiceDennis Lim
Dog Days adheres dogmatically to the school of sado-miserablism that Seidl's compatriots Michael Haneke and Jessica Hausner have turned into something of a national industry (non-Austrian adherents abound too, from Gaspar Noé to Harmony Korine). Read full review
50
Christian Science MonitorDavid Sterritt
Some scenes of Ulrich Seidl's first fiction feature (he's already a respected documentary maker) are so brutal and degrading that they're hard to watch. Others are highly atmospheric and sometimes quite funny. Read full review
50
The A.V. ClubScott Tobias
Working with non-professional actors, Seidl emphasizes their ordinariness to the point of cartoonish ridicule, putting them in scenarios either banal, perverse, or both at the same time. Read full review
50
Chicago ReaderRichard M. Porton
Occasionally provocative but frequently wearying. Read full review
50
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
It is admirable and well-made, but unutterably depressing and unredeemed by any glimmer of hope. Read full review
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