"Light Sleeper" premiered at the Berlin International Film Festival in February 1992 and was released in the US on August 21 the same year, earning $1 million at the box office. It gained mostly positive reviews and received various nominations, including the Independent Spirit Award. Willem Dafoe was awarded the Sant Jordi Award as best actor. In a telegram, German filmmaker Wim Wenders congratulated Schrader, stating that his direction was in a league with that of Japanese director Yasujirō Ozu, who both Wenders and Schrader admire. In a 2005 interview, Schrader called "Light Sleeper" his most personal film and ranked it number 11 on his list of favourite films of the 1990s.