Variety called the film "an excellent contemporary espionage drama of the Cold War which achieves solid impact via emphasis on human values, total absence of mechanical spy gimmickry, and perfectly controlled underplaying." Philip K. Scheuer of the Los Angeles Times wrote: "It is not an easy, certainly not a pleasant, picture to sit through; too impersonal, too objective, to move us to weep, so that its ending can only leave us tremendously depressed."
The reviewer found the film to be a gripping and thought-provoking drama that explores the complexities of human relationships during the Cold War, using a restrained approach to storytelling that avoids manipulative plot devices.