After the film's screening at Sundance, it garnered wide acclaim. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 96% based on reviews from 89 critics, with an average of 8.38/10. The site's consensus reads: "American Factory takes a thoughtful – and troubling – look at the dynamic between workers and employers in the 21st-century globalized economy."[8] On Metacritic it has a weighted average score of 86 out of 100 based on 23 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".[9]