"Caesar Must Die" won the Golden Bear at the 62nd Berlin International Film Festival in February 2012 where British director Mike Leigh led the judging panel. "The Hollywood Reporter" described the outcome as "a major upset". "Der Spiegel" said it was a "very conservative selection". "Der Tagesspiegel" criticised the outcome, saying that the "jury shunned almost all the contemporary films that were admired or hotly debated at an otherwise pretty remarkable festival". The film was also selected as the Italian entry for the Best Foreign Language Oscar at the 85th Academy Awards, but it did not make the final shortlist.