Critics Scoreboard
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
Average Critic Score:
66
(14 sources)
66
(14 sources)
-
100
Chicago Tribune
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
Variety
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 Times
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 Post
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 Chronicle
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
The Hollywood Reporter
Willfully provocative, much like a small child performing outrageous acts just to get some attention. Read Full Review » -
70
TV Guide
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
LA Weekly
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
-
50
-
50
Chicago Sun-Times
It is admirable and well-made, but unutterably depressing and unredeemed by any glimmer of hope. Read Full Review » -
50
Village Voice
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 Monitor
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 Onion (A.V. Club)
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 »
You Say
click on a star to rate
