"Blue Is the Warmest Color" received widespread critical acclaim upon its release. The film won the Palme d'Or at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival, and Adèle Exarchopoulos and Léa Seydoux received the FIPRESCI Prize for Best Actress.

Perhaps the most talked-about element of the film is its explicit, lengthy sex scenes. While Kechiche argued they were essential to portraying the full spectrum of desire and intimacy, they became the flashpoint for a major controversy that would trail the film for years.

Matches the film's 2.39:1 widescreen theatrical aspect ratio.