Shubham Kulkarni of Koimoi gave the film’s rating 2.5 out of 5 and wrote that "People have a lot of expectations from Suriya who was almost in the race for the Oscars this year. But this is definitely not even close to the least expected things. Etharkkum Thunindhavan looks like a wannabe half baked movie that got lucky with the casting." Indiaglitz rated the film 3.5 out of 5 stating that "Go for this message driven heroic effort from Suriya and Pandiraj". Ranjani Krishnakumar of Film Companion stated that "It doesn’t help that Suriya feels miscast as Kannabiran. The speech, body language, mannerisms, and naughtiness feel more like Karthi’s zone. Suriya is too stiff to be goofy, too upright to be shady, too clear-headed to be vulnerable. He is at his best when he’s being the morally unambiguous vigilante, but can barely be convincing as the horny young man rushing to a song-and-dance show. This makes it appear like Suriya is walking in and out of character, making Etharkkum Thunindhavan an overall tough watch."
