 Critic Ann Hornaday of "The Washington Post" called the film one of the ten best of 2012.Dissenting, David Denby wrote in "The New Yorker" that the film was smart, but lacked the emotion to take on life.University of Berlin film scholar Claudia Kotte wrote "Monsieur Lazhar", along with "Incendies" (2010), "War Witch" and "Inch'Allah" (2012), represent a break from focus in the Cinema of Quebec on local history to more global concerns.