. ▁ ▁Crit ical ▁response ▁L oving ▁received ▁pra ise ▁for ▁its ▁acting , ▁Nich ols ' ▁direction ▁and ▁screen play , ▁and ▁the ▁film ' s ▁faithful ness ▁to ▁the ▁Lov ings ' ▁account . ▁On ▁review ▁aggreg ator ▁Rotten ▁Tomatoes , ▁the ▁film ▁has ▁an ▁appro val ▁rating ▁of ▁ 8 9 %, ▁based ▁on ▁ 2 7 3 ▁reviews , ▁with ▁an ▁average ▁rating ▁of ▁ 7 . 6 6 / 1 0 . ▁The ▁website ' s ▁critical ▁cons ensus ▁reads , ▁" L oving ▁takes ▁an ▁under st ated ▁approach ▁to ▁telling ▁a ▁pain ful ▁— ▁and ▁still ▁relevant ▁— ▁real - life ▁tale , ▁with ▁sensitive ▁performances ▁breath ing ▁additional ▁life ▁into ▁a ▁super l ative ▁historical ▁drama ." ▁Met ac rit ic , ▁another ▁review ▁aggreg ator , ▁assigned ▁the ▁film ▁a ▁weight ed ▁average ▁score ▁of ▁ 7 9 ▁out ▁of ▁ 1 0 0 , ▁based ▁on ▁ 4 6 ▁critics , ▁indicating ▁" gener ally ▁favor able ▁reviews ". ▁ ▁The ▁film ▁received ▁a ▁five - min ute ▁standing ▁ov ation ▁following ▁its ▁premi ere ▁at ▁the ▁C annes ▁Film ▁Festival . ▁The ▁Hollywood ▁Re porter , ▁People , ▁and ▁Ess ence , ▁among ▁others , ▁p eg ged ▁it ▁as ▁an ▁Oscar ▁cont ender . ▁Ann ▁Horn ad ay ▁of ▁The ▁Washington ▁Post ▁her ald ed ▁the ▁film ▁and ▁its ▁director , ▁Jeff ▁Nich ols , ▁by ▁stating : ▁" R ather ▁than ▁deliver ▁a ▁ro te ▁— ▁if ▁r ous ing