The film explores non-traditional companionship and the deconstruction of the 'monstrous' other. While specific romantic pairings remain unstated, the focus on loneliness outside social structures suggests a departure from heteronormative domesticity.

The narrative shifts agency from the mad scientist trope to Dr. Cornelia Euphronius. By centering a female scientist and a revolutionary figure, the film rejects submissive feminine archetypes in favor of intellectual mastery.

The cast features notable non-Anglo-Saxon talent, including Penélope Cruz and Jessie Buckley. The 1930s Chicago setting provides a historical canvas that disrupts typical period-piece homogeneity through diverse casting.

The story uses Mary Shelley’s voice to disrupt traditionalist histories and critique systemic oppression. Themes of femicide and female revolution challenge Western notions of sanctity and the natural order.

The film examines altered states of consciousness through Ida’s trance-like possession. It treats reanimated and 'othered' bodies with agency rather than treating them as mere objects of horror.