The film had its world premiere on 10 March 2014 at South by Southwest and follows three young boys who discover that the seemingly banal exterior of their town hides a horrific inner secret.

[3][4] Marc Savlov of The Austin Chronicle called the film "a bloody good capstone" for nouveau guignol cinema, and went on to say that it was "by turns sublime, comical, and chilling in the blackest sort of way.

"[8] Writing for Fangoria magazine, Samuel Zimmerman gave Among the Living a score of 2½ out of 4, offering praise to its unsettling villain and the "thoroughly punishing use of violence" that the film employed when it finally "shifts gears into full-on slasher territory.

"[10] Dread Central's Debi Moore had a lukewarm response to the film, giving it a score 2/5 and writing, "Among the Living is technically as good as can be expected from two directors with a superior vision but falls over badly with its narrative of unlikable protagonists, uninventive villains and a reluctance to push the limits as much as it seems to want to.

"[11] Drew Taylor of IndieWire lambasted the film, opining that it was "straight up bad" before succinctly concluding, "It's messy, it's gory without ever being gratifying, and it makes absolutely no sense.