[8] Working mostly with unknown actors, Diop focused in the film on issues such as the refugee crisis, remorse, loss, grief, class struggle, and taking responsibility (or not) for one's actions.

The website's critics consensus reads, "An unpredictable supernatural drama rooted in real-world social commentary, Atlantique suggests a thrillingly bright future for debuting filmmaker Mati Diop.

"[15] Jay Weissberg writing for Variety stated, "The capricious ocean is a recurrent, mesmerizing image in Mati Diop’s feature debut Atlantics, but given its perfidious connotations for the people of Senegal, who’ve lost so many souls to its depths, the director ensures the rolling waves remain hypnotic rather than beautiful.

It’s the right decision for this romantic and melancholy film, more apt than some of the flawed narrative choices that frustrate though don’t compromise the atmosphere of loss and female solidarity in the story of a young woman whose love has died at sea.

"[16] Justin Chang in his review for the Los Angeles Times noted, "Drawing on a potent vein of local mythology, Diop weaves these paranormal elements into her canvas with thrift, ingenuity and bracing matter-of-factness.

Unexplained arson and illnesses shift Atlantics into supernatural territory, and Diop incorporates elements of Muslim mysticism and French folklore without being gimmicky.

"[18] David Fear of Rolling Stone gave the film four and half stars out of five, commenting "even when things start to dip into supernatural territory, Atlantics remains oddly grounded, still dedicated to tackling a topical subject without being dogmatic.

"[20] In her review for The Hollywood Reporter, Leslie Felperin noted, "Exquisitely shot by Claire Mathon and lushly scored by Fatima Al Qadiri, the film pulls together some exceedingly strong components [...] A lot of ideas about class, post-imperialism and spiritual values peek up out of the surface of the text, but they’re not developed with much rigor compared to what Diop conjured with more intensity and less time in A Thousand Suns.

"[21] Richard Brody of The New Yorker noted, "Diop films the characters and the city with a tactile intimacy and a teeming energy that are heightened by the soundtrack’s polyphony of voices and music; she dramatizes the personal experience of public matters—religious tradition, women’s autonomy, migration, corruption—with documentary-based fervor, rhapsodic yearning, and bold affirmation.

"[2] Monica Castillo of RogerEbert.com gave the film four stars out of four, commenting, "On the surface, this is a familiar story of lovers kept apart by circumstances beyond their control, but Atlantics quickly reveals itself to be so much deeper that.

Diop, who co-wrote the screenplay with Olivier Demangel, blends the story with the desperation that forces them to leave home and loved ones, echoes of the refugee crisis, a look at the exploitation of the poor by the wealthy and the fetishization of virginity, purity, and marriage.

"[22] The Guardian's Peter Bradshaw gave the film four stars out of five and wrote, "Atlantique is about the return of the repressed, or the suppressed: the men who were denied their rightful pay on the building site then faced the real possibility of a watery grave.

"[23] IndieWire's Eric Kohn gave the movie B+ grade and noted, "As it ventures further along its spellbinding path, Atlantics remains a deeply romantic work that magnetized the fears of people trapped by their surroundings and striving for the companionship that can rescue them from despair.