The film explores non-cisnormative gender presentation through economic necessity. A character adopts a female persona to navigate labor market restrictions, disrupting the heteronormative social order through performative gender.

The narrative subverts traditional hierarchies by placing a character in a position where femininity is used to achieve agency. This challenges rigid gender roles and treats gender as a fluid social construct.

The film excels by centering the lives of Afghan and Turkish laborers in Tehran. It provides agency to marginalized migrant populations, avoiding a tourist gaze in favor of empathetic realism.

Majidi offers a nuanced critique of systemic inequality and class stratification. The story prioritizes the lived experiences of the urban poor, finding moral resilience within systemic struggle.

There are no prominent depictions of physical or neurodivergent disabilities that serve as central plot drivers.