 Kaleem Aftab, writing in "The Independent" called "London River" the "most talked about film at the Berlin Film Festival", but argued that "it was only [Sotigui] Kouyate's performance that lifted an otherwise dull and predictable film that avoided any meaningful discussion about the effect of the terrorist attack around which the story was shaped".Having seen the Berlin premiere, "Variety's" Jay Weissberg stated that the film "trumpets political correctness far more loudly than this intimate drama can stand.Though the ending proves effective, Bouchareb and his co-scripters employ simplistic stereotypes and obvious counterpoints that shouldn't need to be spelled out so literally.