Critical reception
The film received positive reviews from critics. It holds an approval rating of 76% on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 58 reviews, with an average rating of 6.5/10. The consensus summarizes: "Copycat's outstanding cast helps this often unpleasant thriller transcend the less palatable elements of its standard-issue story." Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A−" on an A+ to F scale.
Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times awarded it three and a half stars out of four, and a "thumbs up" on Siskel & Ebert, citing Holly Hunter's character as "one of the most intriguing and three-dimensional characters of the year". Multiple reviews praised both Weaver and Hunter's performances, with Ebert commenting that "the relationship between M. J., so small and forcible, and Hudson, so large and timid...creates the center of the movie". Writing for the San Francisco Chronicle, Peter Stack said "Weaver's bravura performance as an accomplished professional reduced to a trembling wreck is her most memorable, complex work to date."
Many critics noted that while the film arrived on the heels of critical and commercial success Seven, Copycat manages to retain its own share of thrills and suspense. The Washington Post's Rita Kempley commented that because Copycat "depicts the victimization of women through the eyes of its female protagonists, the film really has more in common with The Silence of the Lambs". The film's use of two female leads was also praised by critics as a welcome change from male buddy cop films. The New York Times' Janet Maslin wrote that the film "can recall unsettling aspects of other thrillers – Vertigo, Wait Until Dark, The Silence of the Lambs, [and] Dirty Harry...but [it] has a personality of its own". David Ansen of Newsweek commended Amiel on the use of computers to genuinely chilling effect.
More critical reviews focused on the contrivances and implausibilities of the script, with some calling the ending predictable. In a negative review, Kenneth Turan of the Los Angeles Times commented on the larger trend of serial killer films, expressing "Copycat seems pornographically intent on pushing the envelope of what is acceptable for thrillers on screen. If the trend continues it is not at all pleasant to contemplate where everything will end."
Writing on the film's 20th anniversary for The A.V. Club, Alex McLevy said the film "is the work of a talented director, cinematographer, and actors all elevating an oft-clumsy script into a smart and gripping yarn", adding it "sneaks some interesting and subtle themes about gender and interpersonal relationships into its cat-and-mouse games". In 2023, critic Dennis Schwartz described Copycat as "one of the better thrillers of the 1990s".
The film is recognized by American Film Institute in these lists:
2001: AFI's 100 Years...100 Thrills – Nominated
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