"The Times" noted that the film depicted a con man who had started a religion in order to become wealthy, and noted that the film is "banned in the US because of a lawsuit taken out against it by The Church of Scientology," even though the filmmaker stated the film does not depict L. Ron Hubbard.In October 2010, Andre Soares of "Alt Film Guide" noted that the Spanish website "Cineol.net" included "The Profit" in "a list of the top ten movies censored and/or banned in Spain".