Pariah premiered at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival and was awarded the Excellence in Cinematography Award.[6] The film was shown at the Toronto International Film Festival in September 2011.
On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 95% based on 124 reviews, with an average rating of 7.9/10. The website's critics consensus reads: "Pulsing with authenticity and led by a stirring lead performance from Adepero Oduye, Pariah is a powerful coming out/coming-of-age film that signals the arrival of a fresh new talent in writer/director Dee Rees."[7] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 79 out of 100, based on 34 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[8]
In his New York Times article, film critic A. O. Scott wrote that to watch Adepero Oduye play Alike "is to experience the thrill of discovery." Scott continued by saying that "Pariah has a point to make, and a point of view to argue, but it also, above all, wants to illuminate an individual universe of meaning and emotion."[9]
AutoStraddle placed the movie third on its list of the top 200 lesbian, queer and bisexual movies of all time.[10]
The film will hold a special screening at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival on January 26, 2024 to commemorate the festival's 40th anniversary. On the announcement, Rees remarked "I'm moved and excited to be coming back to where it all began and celebrating this special anniversary with the Institute ... From the lab advisors, to the fellows, to the audiences, Sundance was that magically supportive and generous community that enabled Pariah to be born in the world and it’s always a joyous, heady feeling to return."[11]
