Bull received positive from critics. On
review aggregator website
Rotten Tomatoes, 90% of 89 reviews are positive, with an average rating of . The website's critics consensus reads: "An intimate two-hander anchored by a pair of well-matched actors,
Bull takes an achingly empathetic look at life on the economic margins." At
Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 65 out of 100, based on 18 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews. Critics praised the film for the acting of its two leads, Silverstein's focus on an unfamiliar world, and its
slice-of-life approach. Eric Kohn of
IndieWire wrote the film is "an evocative
coming-of-age story...carried by a pair of astounding performances that hover on a plane of their own, generating unique chemistry that finds its emotional center with time."
Nell Minow of
RogerEbert.com awarded the film 3.5 out of 4 stars and said the film is "quietly observed, beautifully performed", while Alan Ng of
Film Threat opined the film is "a subtle tale about the bonds of friendship in times of hopelessness."
Sight & Sound gave the film a five star review and opined
Bull "is a mesmerising film, and one that will linger in the imagination long after the sounds of the crickets have faded."
The Playlist stated, "the result is a sensitive, if occasionally orthodox, treatment of a compassionate friendship enacted in the face of societal apathy", and "it's a hardscrabble tale of one singular bond amidst a landscape of socio-economic struggle." Much acclaim was given to the performance of Rob Morgan. In
Pajiba, Roxana Hadadi wrote, "As the lead in Annie Silverstein's
Bull, Morgan reiterates what he's capable of, delivering a captivating performance of a man aging out of his dream and realizing, not for the first or the last time, that maybe his passion isn't enough." David Fear of
Rolling Stone gave the film 4 out of 5 stars and said Morgan gives one of the great screen performances of the year. Hadadi added that while the plot line can seem like a familiar "troubled white person saved by the influence of a
POC" narrative,
Bull is able to sidestep the cliches "because of how much time it spends with Morgan's Abe, and how much time it spends in the ring. Like
The Wrestler or
The Rider or even
Lean on Pete,
Bull is interested in the toll a sport takes on your body, on the ways we build up our tolerance for that pain, and on the limits of how much we can take."
Slash Film also noted Silverstein has a "keen eye for detail and terrific rapport with her performers, many of them untrained. The film easily could have descended into mawkishness, but instead the travails of Kris and Abe feel entirely real, and thus all the more moving. Silverstein takes
Bull by the horns and drags us into this world, making us feel a part of these characters, witnessing their strengths and weakness as they come to grips with the challenges of life in their Texas town." Though the film was heavily compared to the film
The Rider, critics said
Bull is "far from being a carbon copy, [and] is another multifaceted cinematic examination of characters that are often pushed to the peripheries or treated with pity. It's a fantastic narrative feature debut for Silverstein, and more than worthy of
Un Certain Regard." Chuck Koplinski of the
Illinois Times gave the film 4/4 stars. == Accolades ==