The film stars a mix of professional and amateur actors and follows six interwoven stories set in suburban Vienna over the course of some unseasonably hot summer days.

The film is set in Vienna during a week of unseasonably hot summer weather and has six interconnected narrative streams.

An alarm systems engineer attempts to capture someone damaging cars, an old man interacts with various people including his housekeeper, a young man treats his girlfriend badly, a teacher has a date with her lover which goes wrong, a divorced couple are dealing with the death of their child and a mentally disturbed hitchhiker asks her drivers rude questions.

[1] The Guardian review gave the film three stars out of five and called it a "disturbing vision of Viennese suburbanites suffocating in sweltering heat".

[1] The BBC reviewer discussed the torture scene and declared "Seidl himself relishes portraying this unpleasantness",[2] whilst Screen Daily stated "Dog Days announces the arrival of a visionary, uncompromising director".