The film maintains a strictly heteronormative structure. It focuses entirely on a male-centric military environment with no queer identities or same-sex intimacy present.

Female agency is almost entirely absent from the narrative. The story centers exclusively on the male experience of combat and command within a patriarchal structure.

The cast is predominantly white, reflecting the era's casting conventions. While set in Algeria, the lens remains fixed on the Western military perspective.

The film emphasizes traditional Western military values like duty and discipline. It lacks anti-colonial critiques or any significant engagement with moral relativism.

Psychological trauma is used as a plot device to create tension. These elements lack nuanced exploration of mental health or lived experience with disability.