While the film adapts a 2002 Swedish novel by gender-swapping the protagonist from male Karl Edh to female Caroline Edh (played by Noomi Rapace) and slightly amplifying the team's ethnic diversity—including actors of Middle Eastern descent like Dar Salim and Ardalan Esmaili in a Scandinavian setting—these changes appear incidental and do not drive the plot, themes, or emotional core. The story emphasizes gritty realism, anti-war sentiments, and personal stakes like a mother's hope to reunite with her daughter, without delving into identity politics, systemic oppression, or social justice lectures.

No creator intent emphasizes activism, and reception lacks any notable backlash or 'woke' controversy, praising its tension and bleak atmosphere instead. This keeps progressive elements minor and non-central, allowing pure entertainment value to shine through unhindered by ideological intrusions.