It had its world premiere at the 24th Far East Film Festival on April 27, 2022, and was released theatrically on September 21, 2022, in South Korea.

[8] Pierce Conran reviewing the film for Udine Film Festival in ScreenAnarchy appreciated the performance of Seo Hyun-woo writing, "Seo delivers another strong, edgy and vulnerable performance as Tae-gyun."

Concluding Conran opined, "Thunderbird is another promising graduation project from KAFA and with any luck director Lee will be afforded a chance in the commercial arena soon.

"[9] Panos Kotzathanasis writing in HanCinema praised the performances of cast writing, "movie, benefiting the most by the excellent acting of Lee Myeong-ro as Tae-min, Lee Seol as Mi-young, Park Seung-tae as the catalytic pawn-shop owner, but most of all, Seo Hyun-woo as Tae-gyun".

Concluding the review Kotzathanasis wrote, "Thunderbird is a very interesting film, particularly rewarding simply because it manages to stray away from the norms of the crime thriller and for Seo Hyun-woo's acting.