Production notes

Philomena grossed $37.7 million in the United States and Canada, and $62.4 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $100.1 million, against a production budget of $12 million. In the film's second weekend of release, it grossed $4.5 million from 835 cinemas, finishing ninth.

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 91% based on 199 reviews, with an average rating of 7.74/10. The website's critical consensus reads: "Based on a powerful true story and led by note-perfect performances from Judi Dench and Steve Coogan, Philomena offers a profoundly affecting drama for adult filmgoers of all ages." At Metacritic, the film received a weighted average score of 77 out of 100, based on 42 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale. In The New York Times, Stephen Holden described the film as "so quietly moving that it feels lit from within." He wrote: "That [Dench] makes you believe her character has the capacity to forgive provides the movie with a solid moral center." He found the film's political viewpoint particularly sophisticated:

Philomena has many facets. It is a comedic road movie, a detective story, an infuriated anticlerical screed, and an inquiry into faith and the limitations of reason, all rolled together. Fairly sophisticated about spiritual matters, it takes pains to distinguish faith from institutionalized piety. It also has a surprising political subtext in its comparison of the church's oppression and punishment of unmarried sex ... with homophobia and the United States government's reluctance to deal with the AIDS crisis in the 1980s. Kelly Torrance of The Washington Times found that the film "ultimately feels false", with the filmmakers succumbing to the temptation to focus on the "lessons" the story holds at the expense of the human story itself. Justin Chang, of Variety, called the film a "smug but effective middlebrow crowdpleaser." While noting Dench's "fine, dignified performance", he observed that much of the humor here comes at the expense of Dench's character. "[I]t's hard not to wonder if the writers are simply scoring points off [Philomena]." Rex Reed of The New York Observer gave the film a glowing review and named it the Best Film of 2013, saying: "It's profoundly moving and thoroughly mind provoking, but despite the poignant subject matter, I promise you will not leave Philomena depressed. I've seen it twice and felt exhilarated, informed, enriched, absorbed and optimistic both times. This is filmmaking at its most refined. I will probably forget most of what happened at the movies in 2013, but I will never forget Philomena."

The film and its cast and crew have earned several award nominations, including four Academy Award nominations and four British Academy Film Award nominations. At the British Independent Film Awards, Dench and Coogan were nominated Best Actress and Best Actor, respectively. Along with her lifetime fifth Oscar nomination for Best Actress, Philomena saw Dench nominated Best Actress by the Broadcast Film Critics Association, London Film Critics' Circle, Satellite Awards and Screen Actors Guild Awards. Philomena garnered three nominations at the 71st Golden Globe Awards, and took home a win, at the 2014 David di Donatello Awards, securing the statuette for Best European Film.