Director Julia Ducournau has stated her intent to reject victimhood-driven depictions of young women's sexuality in favor of bodily autonomy, shameless desire, and resistance to sexist socialization, directly shaping the film's thematic focus on female coming-of-age. The narrative integrates critiques of conformity and hazing rituals within the school's brutal environment, presenting traditional feminine expectations as oppressive forces that the protagonist must confront and transcend. The story grants narrative weight to queerness through the gay character Adrien, whose sexuality is explored amid themes of sexual repression versus awakening, while sisterly dynamics further underscore challenges to patriarchal norms.

These elements remain woven into the horror premise rather than dominating it. Casting involves no race- or gender-swapping of established characters and reflects organic French and European diversity without external mandates, keeping identity factors incidental to the core ideological framing.