Rory O'Connor graded the film B+ for The Film Stage and wrote, "It’s coarse to the touch but The Adults is a tender film." Steph Green reviewing for IndieWire graded the film B and wrote, "A raw, sensitive, and true look at a family in flux with too much love to give and no tools to whittle it into something useful." Guy Lodge reviewing at Berlin Film Festival, for Variety wrote, "From... queasiness comes bristly tension, tautening and deepening what otherwise seems a low-key, low-stakes character study, and eventually a sweet, conciliatory sliver of hope too."
