Critic Lewis Jacobs of The Hollywood Reporter wrote that the taboo subject matter was effectively conveyed through "the film's intensity of imagery, the strength and precision of its shots and continuity," making Fireworks a work of "rare individuality which no literal summary of its qualities can communicate."Jacobs, p. 32. Tennessee Williams called Fireworks "the most exciting use of cinema I have ever seen". Anger submitted Fireworks to the Festival du Film Maudit in 1949, where the jury awarded it the Poetic Film Prize.
