G. Allen Johnson of the "San Francisco Chronicle" describes the film as "a gorgeously shot, ambitious epic". Kevin Thomas of the "Los Angeles Times" called the film, "a remarkable period piece, evoking the bustling, dense and increasingly dangerous Shanghai of the '30s". Thomas praised Zhang as an actress with "formidable resources" and "has that crucial gift of holding herself in check at just the right moments for maximum dramatic impact and psychological complexity". Thomas further state the film is "suspenseful, atmospheric and sometimes puzzling".