The diverse cast, including performers of North African, Black French, and mixed European backgrounds like Sofia Boutella and Kiddy Smile, reflects a modern French contemporary dance troupe without forced race-swapping, gender alterations, or DEI mandates clashing with the premise. Background queer representation exists among real-life dancers but remains incidental, never focal or driving character arcs, romances, or conflicts.

Themes explore universal savagery and LSD nightmare without lectures on systemic oppression, identity politics, toxic masculinity, or social justice; any interpretive readings of multiculturalism or nationalism are accidental and peripheral. Gaspar Noé's provocative style yields controversy over extreme violence and sex, not wokeness, with some critics even noting racial stereotypes that counter progressive narratives. Audience reception praises its technical brilliance and shock value, free from backlash over political intrusion, allowing pure, unadulterated cinematic immersion.