The film was critically acclaimed. It garnered a 97% approval rating on the aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes, based on 146 reviews, and an average rating of 8.03/10. The website's critical consensus states, "In a striking debut, Moreno carries the movie and puts a human face on the drug trade". On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 87 out of 100, based on 39 critics, indicating "universal acclaim". According to Desson Thomson from "The Washington Post", "Catalina Sandino Moreno is a Colombian Mona Lisa, a delicate, unforgettable force majeure. Add to her luminous demeanor a story that rips fleshy holes through your heart and you've got yourself a stunner of a film".