During her grandmother's funeral rites, Cadi sees the face of the village sin-eater, a person who absolves the deceased, at death, of their sins in this tiny Smoky Mountain community.

Matt Zoller Seitz of The New York Times said, "Handsomely produced, earnestly performed and 100 percent irony-free, The Last Sin Eater is religious art for mainstream consumption."

The review gave credit to the direction and photography, saying, "The movie is a big-screen Sunday school story with sumptuous scenery, graceful crane shots and Rembrandt lighting—designed mainly to impart and then repeat wisdom about guilt, sin and redemption—this can't really be considered a flaw.

"[2] Laura Kelly of South Florida Sun-Sentinel said, "With its dulling straightforward pitch for Jesus, The Last Sin Eater seems like the worst of films from a non-born-again perspective.

"[5] Additionally, Variety complimented the look of the film: "Pic was attractively lensed by Robert Seaman in Utah locales that adequately double for Appalachian mountain country.