"Mahana" has received positive reviews from critics. The movie received an 85% rating on the film review website Rotten Tomatoes. The movie was first screened at the 2016 Berlin Film Festival on February 13, 2016, prior to its New Zealand debut on March 3, 2016. "The Guardian" reviewer Henry Barnes awarded the film three out of five stars. Despite its simplistic and romantic storyline, Barnes described "Mahana" as a story that could apply to every family "whose male leader forgets that his role is to offer support, love and security—not hard-hearted rule." "The Hollywood Reporter" Dave Rooney described "Mahana" as an old-fashioned family saga with conflicting impulses. He criticized John Collee's script-writing, commenting that the "on-the-nose dialogue, ripe melodrama and preprogrammed emotional responses will test all but the most forgiving viewers".