The film has received critical praise for its direction, writing, and performances, particularly that of the late McGuigan.

Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 72 out of 100, based on six critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.

[5] The critical consensus on Rotten Tomatoes reads, "Anchored by the believable bond between its leads, Wildfire tells a heartfelt and realistic story of sisters peering into their family's past.

[7][8] It won the IWC Schaffhausen Filmmaker Bursary Award at the London BFI Film Festival.

[9] The award is worth £50k, for outstanding first or second time UK writer, director or writer/director presenting work at the BFI London Film Festival.