In an interview, Kędzierzawska revealed that she had been waiting for Szaflarska to play the role of Aniela for 16 years: "She often hurried me, saying: 'Dorotka, write faster, or I'll drop dead on you'".
[15] Pora umierać was an artistic success for Kędzierzawska, although the film mainly attracted critics' attention due to Danuta Szaflarska's performance.
Zdzisław Pietrasik [pl] from Polityka wrote: "We should commend Dorota Kędzierzawska and the cinematographer Arthur Reinhart, but Pora umierać is primarily a showcase for Danuta Szaflarska's acting".
[17] Łukasz Maciejewski [pl] in his review for Dziennik Polski praised Szaflarska's performance, calling her "a great lady of Polish cinema" and appreciating her unconventional portrayal: "Aniela is nothing like the good grandmother from children's cartoons.
[18] Jerzy Płażewski [pl] from Kino also lauded Szaflarska's acting: "Thank you, Ms. Danuta, for the sum of experiences that – as in the final traveling shot towards the sky, brilliantly arranged by cinematographer Arthur Reinhart – lead us, the viewers, far beyond earthly horizons".
Jacek Szczerba from Gazeta Wyborcza found the film "average" and accused the Kędzierzawska–Reinhart duo of sterile aestheticism: "At times, the creators indulge in the beauty of their images: the fluidity of contours in memory scenes and the collage of reflections in panes of glass".
Błażej Hrapkowicz [pl] from Kino wrote:[21]There are few films in our cinema that address difficult issues in such an accessible yet wise way, uplifting everyday life, recounting it without philosophical pomp and sentimentality, yet also without excessive distance.
Alissa Simon from Variety wrote about Szaflarska, describing her as "an actress of intelligence, charm, and beauty, who looks at least two decades younger, supported by the wonderfully baroque, detailed work of Reinhart's camera and the best-trained, most photogenic dog in Polish cinema".
[22] According to The Hollywood Reporter, Szaflarska and her dog Tokaj "create a wonderful odd couple in beautiful monochromatic images, skillfully photographed thanks to the high-quality digital cinematography of Arthur Reinhart, wandering through what was once a magnificent, now half-destroyed residence".
[25] Mazur also noted that Kędzierzawska's film stands out in Polish cinema, where "it is difficult to find a comparable, equally consistent image based on female experiences, focused on a feminine perspective".
[27] Iwona Grodź and Robert Stefanowski noted that Aniela's villa is an unreal space, on the border between the city and the province; "it becomes for her a place of memories, expectations, joy and sorrow, hope and death".
According to Radkiewicz, "individual objects and fragments of wooden architecture – the veranda, stairs, railings – come together to create a living story, simultaneously human and non-human".
[2] Radkiewicz added that "the woman coexists in the deserted villa on equal terms with the dog and the collected belongings", and when the house is handed over for social purposes, "it is in a sense liberated from the dominant humanistic narrative".