The core premise and plot revolve entirely around the dangers of excessive politeness, conflict avoidance, and social niceties, with no identity politics, systemic oppression narratives, or social justice framing driving any character arcs or conflicts. Casting remains traditional and faithful to the source material's demographics, featuring white actors in all lead roles (James McAvoy as Paddy, Mackenzie Davis as Louise, Scoot McNairy as Ben) with no race- or gender-swapping of established characters and no prominent LGBTQ+ representation or pronoun elements.

Director James Watkins explicitly discussed transposing the Danish original's themes of politeness into an Anglo-American context for cultural familiarity, with no statements indicating activist intent. Some critics retroactively frame the antagonist's domineering behavior through a 'toxic masculinity' lens or note the remake's more assertive victim response, but these are interpretive overlays rather than foundational to the storytelling, which stays rooted in classic horror tropes of hidden evil beneath civility.