Grande wrote the song with Tayla Parx, and it was produced by Mr. Franks, Oliver "Junior" Frid and Tommy Brown.

Jason Lipshutz of Billboard ranked "POV" as his top song from Positions, describing the track as one that "breaks the mold of a traditional R&B ballad", calling it "a breathtaking show-stopper" and "the most elegant–and arguably the flat-out best–deployment of full-on balladry in her catalog to date".

[8] Vulture's Justin Curto named the song "one of Grande's best performances on Positions", deeming it "an ecstatic finale presenting her whole range of whistle tones, belts, and runs in just three and a half minutes".

[7] Writing for Consequence of Sound, Mary Siroky chose "POV" as one of the three "essential tracks" from the album, and considered it "perhaps the best showcase for the belt listeners often crave from her".

[16] NPR ranked "POV" as the 98th best song of 2020, with Nastia Voynovskaya from KQED stating: "Ariana Grande's 'POV' comes off as a fluttering, ethereal ode to newfound love, but it's really a meditation on how she uses romance as a lens to better get to know herself.

"[17] Erin Parker of Glamour selected "POV" as one of the 63 best songs of 2020, writing: "I'm always here for an Ari ballad, and 'POV' is such a gorgeous ending to Positions.

Complimenting Grande's "breathtaking" vocals, she stated: "'POV' gives us a tender insight that's a lot more vulnerable than the rest of Positions might suggest.

"[21] Harper's Bazaar named "POV" as one of the best songs of 2020, with Erica Gonzales calling it a "head-over-heels-in-love ballad" and a standout track from Positions.

[25] As the song sparked an online trend on the video-sharing platform TikTok, it remained stable at number 45 in its second and third week on the Hot 100.

Following its launch to US adult contemporary radio, "POV" reached a new peak of number 37 on the Hot 100, in its thirteenth tracking week, on the issue dated June 12, 2021.

On January 18, 2022, actor George Todd McLachlan, who played in Euphoria and Shameless, posted a TikTok confirming the music video, showing the shooting schedule of the project.