It has received many awards and nominations, particularly for Seligman's writing and directing as her feature film debut, and lead actress Rachel Sennott.

It also won a National Board of Review Award for 2021, and production designer Cheyenne Ford was selected to the 2021 BAFTA Breakthrough US cohort thanks to her work on the film.

[6][7][8] In January 2022, The Guardian wrote that the ensemble cast in general, and Polly Draper and Dianna Agron as supporting actresses in particular, were among the performances that "ought to be in the mix [in the awards season], but haven't yet generated the buzz they deserve.

"[9] Hungarian film website Hetedik Sor analyzed the whole season's awards performances and named Shiva Baby the "best of the rest".

[17] Discussing the Independent Spirit Awards, Vulture theorized that "the stressful mental space" of the film may be a reason for it receiving fewer major nominations, and described the oversight as "kind of deeply insane".