Film critic Richard Kuipers praised Birdshot in a review published in Variety describing the film as a "gripping combination of police procedural and coming-of-age drama". He paralleled the film's commentary to the 2009 Maguindanao massacre and remarked on Apostol's performance in particular as "impressive". Additional praise was also given by Kuiper to Teresa Barrozo's "haunting soundscapes".[5]
The film won Best Picture in the Asian Future category at the 2016 Tokyo International Film Festival and was selected for the Ingmar Bergman International Debut Award at the Goteborg Film Festival.[10]
