"Film critic Philip French, writing in "The Observer", called the film "A complex, truthful work that does justice to Darwin's theories and their implications", while his colleague, film critic Peter Bradshaw in "The Guardian", wrote "This gentle, heartfelt and well-acted film about Charles Darwin and his personal agony preceding the 1859 publication of "On the Origin of Species" does not shy away from the issues.But it personalises them, and places them in a new context."