Peter Bradshaw in "The Guardian" and Peter Byrne in the "Student BMJ" are much more unequivocal in their praise. Bradshaw calls the film "a serious, substantial, and compassionate movie which demands to be seen, not least for its outstanding performances from an excellent cast". Byrne says that "Some Voices" "works as a film, and a technically accomplished one at that". Both reviewers particularly commend the film's avoidance of cliché. Bradshaw stresses that "nothing could be more tiresome and dishonest than shop worn RD Laing-style clichés about schizophrenia being a heightened visionary state which the western world crushes under the jackboot of its dull rationalist enlightenment. Such a proposition would not correspond to the actual experience of schizophrenia sufferers and their carers; in real life, schizophrenia can lead to a lifelong trial of stress and unhappiness, and "Some Voices" reflects this". He also welcomes the fact that "the schizophrenic is not demonised as a potential criminal or as a care-in-the-community basket-case", and that "Ray's essential humanity is transcribed with sympathy and warmth, and so is the patience and perseverance of Pete, who must shoulder most of the burden of schizophrenia's terrible mystery". Byrne writes that "the film is refreshing in its avoidance of the standard formulas. Gone are the psycho-killer, pathetic, or 'crazy funny guy' stereotypes... There is no blaming, no mental illness as metaphor, no psychiatry bashing, and - although a romance lies at its core - there is none of the usual message that 'love is better than tablets.