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The film earned generally positive reviews from critics with particular praise going to Neeson's performance. As of 19 November 2012, The Grey holds a 79% rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 183 reviews, stating: "The Grey is an exciting tale of survival, populated with fleshed-out characters and a surprising philosophical agenda." Roger Ebert gave the film 3.5 out of 4 stars, and wrote that the unrelenting harshness of The Grey so affected him that he departed the screening of a different movie on the same day: "It was the first time I've ever walked out of a film because of the previous film. The way I was feeling in my gut, it just wouldn't have been fair to the next film. " The film also earned a place on A.O. Scott's list of the year's ten best films, and Slate film critic Dana Stevens included it in her runners-up for the year's best movies.
Dissenters' reviews tend to focus on the film's abrupt ending and perceive the emotional and philosophical undertones as unnecessary. Siobhan Synnot of The Scotsman gave the film two stars, commenting that "On the down side, there's a lot of dull pretentious philosophizing about the heartlessness of nature and God. On the up side, you get to see a man punch a wolf in the face." Some reviewers and analysts have described the film as having an atheist theme, due to characters such as John Ottway pleading for divine help but not getting any.