The Times of India gave the film a rating of 2.5 out of 5 and wrote, "Vanam is a run-of-the-mill horror thriller." Bharat Kumar of News Today wrote, "Vanam is a movie that manages a decent watch. Good writing is the key." Sify called it a "run of the mill thriller" and "yet another horror-thriller in Tamil cinema with an earnest flashback episode", rating it 2 out of 5.
