[2] Initially developed by Ortega in her native Venezuela, the project did not manage to persuade potential co-producers to work in the country.

[4] Upon a meeting of Ortega with Olmo Figueredo at 2019 Rome's MIA Market, the project eventually moved across the Atlantic to Spain.

[11] Jonathan Holland of ScreenDaily assessed that "the veteran Manver delivers a masterclass in nuance as a quietly-spoken, humble and repressed woman undergoing a violent inner transformation".

[3] Jacob Oller of Paste deemed Mamacruz to be "a vibrant and lovely character study", that "makes the most of its horny matriarch".

[12] Laurence Boyce of Cineuropa deemed the film to be a "personal and affecting piece of work that is both an achingly human portrait of a woman exploring her desires in her later years and a celebration of female sexuality".