It premiered on 16 May 2015 at the 68th Cannes Film Festival, as part of the Directors' Fortnight section.

Volume 2: The Desolate One, was selected as the Portuguese entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 88th Academy Awards, but it was not nominated.

Rotten Tomatoes reports that Volume 1 has a 97% score based on 35 reviews, with an average rating of 8/10.

The website's critics consensus reads: "Miguel Gomes' vibrant twist on Arabian Nights spins myriad yarns that coalesce into a colorful ode to Portugal.

[12] On Metacritic, Volume 1 has an 80 out of 100 rating based on 10 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".