Roger Ebert of "Chicago Sun-Times" gave this film 3 out of 4 stars, saying that this film is "Effective without being overwhelming." Claudia Puig of "USA Today" gave this film 3 and a half stars out of 4, calling it "a deeply moving and powerful film." On the negative side, Steven Rea of "The Philadelphia Inquirer" gave this film a score of 2.5/4, saying that "it's a harrowing tale, but one that gets phonied up with unnecessary slo-mos, manipulative soundtrack cues, and unrestrained thespianism." One of the biggest critiques of the film was the characters not speaking in Salvadoran accents or Caliche. The people of El Salvador, for the most part speak in "voseo", which was non-existent in the film. This film was Mexico's submission for Best Foreign Language Film at the 77th Academy Awards, but failed to be shortlisted by the Academy.