It had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival on January 27, 2019. In July 2019, Amazon Studios acquired distribution rights to the film, with plans for an original series based on the film. The film was released online on April 17, 2020. Because the online premiere happened during the confinement period of the COVID-19 pandemic, Amazon Studios partnered with restaurants in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Atlanta, Boston, Philadelphia, and other cities to deliver catered meals to people's homes to celebrate the online premiere. The goal was to support local businesses that were losing money during the shut-downs as well as raise money to support local charities. On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 89% based on 99 reviews, with an average rating of 7/10. The website's critics consensus reads: "A smart, well-acted, and refreshingly messy coming-of-age story, "Selah and the Spades" suggests a bright future for debuting writer-director Tayarisha Poe." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 69 out of 100, based on 29 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". In "Rolling Stone", David Fear praised the filmmaker. "You can tell there’s a voice and vision behind Selah and the Spades, one that’s likely to come into its own after some seasoning. It might seem like faint praise to throw a 'watch this space' sign on top of what is indeed a more-than-impressive first movie. But think of how many debuts of fresh young filmmakers you’ve seen over the years, and how that initial spark eventually gifted us with careers defined by exponential level-ups. That’s how you feel watching this. 'They never take girls seriously,' Selah complains at one point. 'It’s a mistake the whole world makes.' Only an idiot would not take Poe seriously after this. You get the sense she’s just getting warmed up." Selah and the Spades was a "New York Times" Critics Pick. Critic Teo Bugbee wrote that "While there is simple pleasure in watching a movie that is so precisely produced, "Selah and the Spades" aims to do more than look good. It is expressive, using images to make dynamic statements — student leaders on opposing sides of a table become a makeshift war council; Selah swipes her braids over her shoulder and is transformed into a figure of ultimate power."