 The first audiences of the film gave it a standing ovation.Glowing press reviews followed.Graham Fuller of Screen Daily declared, “Whatever masterpieces, if any, bow at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, it is likely none will communicate the excitement engendered by movies more headily than The Cinema Travellers.” He lauded the film for being “rigorous, aesthetically and intellectually.”  E. Nina Rothe of The Huffington Post called it a “masterpiece,” and further, “a film from the heart and a testament to everything humanity should believe in wholeheartedly.” Nick Schager of Variety found the film an “intimate, poignant documentary.” Schager wrote, “Recalling Giuseppe Tornatore’s 1988 Oscar winner “Cinema Paradiso” in its effusive love of 20th-century celluloid splendor, this five-years-in-the-making film should entice theatrical-loving cinephiles.” The film’s narrative form drew attention from reviewers.