Derek Elley of Variety praised director Glen Goei for keeping the film "nicely balanced between comedy and drama" and making "cinematic use of his single location".

However, he blamed Ken Kwek's "gauche" script, with its "weak third act and dialogue more suited to the stage than the screen", for letting down Goei's evident "ambition to make quality commercial fare".

[9] The Urban Wire praised "the director’s attention to detail" and the film's "intriguing mystery", "well-developed characters", "solid acting", "cleverly crafted humour", "fabulous cinematography" and "brilliant music", but found its ending confusing.

[10] Lisa-Ann Lee of SG magazine awarded it 2.5/5, praising it as "a valiant effort" and "a very polished production" even if "you get the feeling that you’ve seen it all before" and "it makes that sharp turn toward melodrama and the bizarre near the end".

[12] Academic Kenneth Paul Tan analysed The Blue Mansion in the NETPAC journal Cinemas of Asia, arguing that "the film points to the larger tragedy of authoritarian cultures of conformity and dependency" and "shows the folly and danger of chauvinistic attitudes that fester within society".

[13] Fridae called it "easily the must-watch of the week" and noted how online commentators had drawn "parallels between Wee Bak Chuan and Singapore’s founding father Lee Kuan Yew", adding that "there’s no denying how powerfully layered a satire it becomes because of them".