The film focuses on fractured maternal and sororal bonds rather than explicit queer identities. While it explores unconventional family structures and fluid identities within a nomadic circus, there is no documented depiction of same-sex intimacy.

The narrative centers on female agency and physical endurance. Protagonists Helena and Irene navigate high-stakes survival through their own mastery, while the mother, Sirkka, is depicted through a lens of autonomy rather than domesticity.

The setting moves from Helsinki through Central Europe, introducing a Spanish character, Ramon. This circus environment creates a cosmopolitan, cross-cultural intersection that breaks the homogeneity of the Finnish setting.

The story engages deeply with communist ideologies and the deconstruction of the traditional family unit. It critiques bourgeois stability by favoring a nomadic, anti-institutional lifestyle centered around the circus.

Physical vulnerability is explored through Irene’s traumatic fall from the trapeze. However, these moments serve as narrative catalysts for psychological shifts rather than an exploration of lived experience with disability.