After its premiere at Sundance, Drafthouse Films acquired the film's distribution rights. It was released on October 24, 2014, in United States, with a portion of all box office receipts being donated to affordable housing charities in North Dakota.[8][9]
The film depicts the lives of people chasing the dream of high salaries in the North Dakota oil boom, only to discover that affordable housing is almost impossible to find. Much of the focus is on the efforts of local Lutheran pastor Jay Reinke, who allowed over 1,000 different people to stay at his Williston, North Dakota, church over a period of about two years.[10]
The Overnighters was received positively by critics.[11]Onreview aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, it has a 97% approval rating based on reviews from 74 critics, with an average score of 8.5/10; the site's "critics consensus" reads: "Hard-hitting, absorbing, and painfully relevant, The Overnighters offers an urgent and compassionate picture of life in 21st century America."[12]OnMetacritic, the film has a score of 89 out of 100 based on reviews from 20 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".[13]
Justin ChangofVariety called the film "tough-minded, admirably unresolved".[14] David Rooney of The Hollywood Reporter gave the film a positive review, writing: "A scenario with present-day echoes of The Grapes of Wrath yields perceptive insights into the way we view outsiders."[15] Katie Walsh of Indiewire said: "The Overnighters is starkly bleak and devastatingly humane, and an indelible American documentary."[16] Colin Covert of the Minneapolis Star Tribune gave the film three-and-a-half stars out of four and noted: "The film features stunning third-act revelations that compel viewers to rethink its characters' actions and motivations."[17]
