Review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes assigned the film an approval rating of 63% based on 56 reviews, with an average rating of 6.22/10. The site's critics consensus states: "Though it is ultimately somewhat undone by its own lofty ambitions, "The Devil's Advocate" is a mostly effective blend of supernatural thrills and character exploration." Metacritic gives the film a weighted average score of 60 out of 100, based on 19 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B" on an A+ to F scale.