It was released on October 24, 2014, in United States, with a portion of all box office receipts being donated to affordable housing charities in North Dakota.

[8][9] The film depicts the lives of people chasing the dream of high salaries in the North Dakota oil boom, only to discover that affordable housing is almost impossible to find.

Much of the focus is on the efforts of local Lutheran pastor Jay Reinke, who allowed over 1,000 different people to stay at his Williston, North Dakota, church over a period of about two years.

[11] On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, it has a 97% approval rating based on reviews from 74 critics, with an average score of 8.5/10; the site's "critics consensus" reads: "Hard-hitting, absorbing, and painfully relevant, The Overnighters offers an urgent and compassionate picture of life in 21st century America.

[14] David Rooney of The Hollywood Reporter gave the film a positive review, writing: "A scenario with present-day echoes of The Grapes of Wrath yields perceptive insights into the way we view outsiders.