In "Télérama", Cécile Mury gave the film a rating of four stars out of five. Mury compared it to the director's previous feature film: "This "Illusionist" is as tender and contemplative as the "Triplets" were farcical and uneasy. But we find the oblique look, the talent that is particular of Sylvain Chomet. ... This world of yesterday fleets between realism and poetry." Christophe Carrière of "L'Express" was not fully convinced by Chomet's directing, finding the story clever, but "blunted when Chomet lets himself be submerged by Tati's melancholy, delivering more of a homage to a master than a personal adaption. Nevertheless, it is otherwise a beautiful work, with impeccable graphics and provides some stunning sequences (based on carnivorous rabbit stew ...). One would have liked a little bit more, that's all."