"Variety" magazine film critic Emanuel Levy had problems with the screenplay in his review, writing, "Susanna Styron and Bridget Terry's script, which extends to the limits a narrative that is basically a small, simple and poignant story, suffers from being both literal and literary. Indeed, were it not for the foul language used by the white trash but decent father, "Shadrach" is the kind of well-intentioned picture that could easily have been made by Disney and comfortably play as an after-school special."