Critically successful and commercially profitable on release, it was generally positively reviewed with praise for Brad Pitt’s performance, earning an Academy Award nomination for Best Sound Mixing and making $135 million worldwide.

Critical reviews for the film are largely positive, with Xan Brooks of The Guardian giving the film five out of five stars, calling it a “superb space-opera”. Major praise went to Brad Pitt’s performance, with Brooks stating that “Pitt embodies McBride with a series of deft gestures and a minimum fuss… (in a) performance… so understated it hardly looks like acting at all”, praise for its direction, with Variety critic Owen Gleiberman stating that “Gray proves beyond measure that he’s got the chops to make a movie like this. He also has a vision, of sorts – one that’s expressed, nearly inadvertently, in the metaphor of the space antenna” and praise for its unique approach to the science fiction genre and its use of cinematography which Peter Travers of Rolling Stone described as “absolutely enthralling”.

Today, it stands on Rotten Tomatoes at 83% with its critical consensus stating that “Ad Astra takes a visually thrilling journey through the vast reaches of space while charting an ambitious course for the heart of the bond between parent and child."