"There are no simple answers or obvious conclusions to be gleaned from this movie, which, like its soundtrack, is both sad and vibrant, meandering and formally sure-footed," the Times' film critic A.O. Scott warns in his review of the film in January 2009. "It is an exciting debut, and a film that, without exaggeration or false modesty, finds interest and feeling in the world just as it is." Roger Ebert mirrors this criticism by noting just how engaged the viewer becomes with the two lead characters in such a short amount of time. (They only each know each other 24 hours in the film, too.) "Medicine for Melancholy is a first, but very assured, feature by Barry Jenkins, who has the confidence to know the precise note he wants to strike," he writes. "This isn't a Statement film or a bold experiment in style; it's more like a New Yorker story that leaves you thinking, yes, I see how they feel."