Reviewing the TIFF début of the film, Rocchi writes: "Emotional Arithmetic" plays out in a series of fairly predictable scenes — resentments simmer, past pain comes to light, rapprochements are formed. "Emotional Arithmetic" tries to paint a picture of the long-term emotional effects of political atrocities, which is certainly an important topic. But, again, it feels like a film that was made to be about an important topic — it's a little too obvious, a little too on-the-nose, a little familiar. "Emotional Arithmetic" has the best of intentions; it's just that its whole is far less than the sum of the parts.