Kim Skotte called the film a "powerful and captivating drama" in "Politiken". Out of the four collaborations between Jensen and Bier, he considered "In a Better World" to be the one most similar to Jensen's solo films and compared the combination of biblical themes and high entertainment value to Jensen's 2005 film "Adam's Apples". Peter Nielsen of "Dagbladet Information" called "In a Better World" "in all ways a successful film", and although there "is no doubt that Susanne Bier can tell a good story", he was not entirely convinced: "She can seduce, and she can push the completely correct emotional buttons, so that mothers' as well as fathers' hearts are struck, but she doesn't earnestly drill her probe into the meat."