Damon Wise of "Empire" called "Changeling" "flawless", and McCarthy said it was "emotionally powerful and stylistically sure-handed". He stated that "Changeling" was a more complex and wide-ranging work than Eastwood's "Mystic River", saying the characters and social commentary were brought into the story with an "almost breathtaking deliberation". He said that as "a sorrowful critique of the city's political culture", "Changeling" sat in the company of films such as "Chinatown" and "L.A. Confidential". Honeycutt said the film added a "forgotten chapter to the L.A. noir" of those films, and that Eastwood's melodic score contributed to an evocation of a city and a period "undergoing galvanic changes". Honeycutt said, " small-town feel to the street and sets ... captures a society resistant to seeing what is really going on". Séguret said that while "Changeling" had few defects, it was mystifying that other critics had such effusive praise for it. Denby said it was beautifully made, but that it shared the chief fault of other "righteously indignant" films in congratulating the audience for feeling contempt for the "long-discredited" attitudes depicted. Ansen concluded that the story was told in such a sure manner that only a hardened cynic would be left unmoved by the "haunting, sorrowful saga".