The film features no identifiable LGBTQ+ characters or themes. Its narrative centers on a reform school for troubled boys, exploring masculinity and mental health without addressing queer identity or experiences.

No transsexual characters or themes appear in the film. The story examines mental health and behavioral issues among male students and staff at a boys' boarding school, as seen in the arc of troubled teen Shy navigating regret and uncertainty.

The movie does not contain any action or adventure elements.

The film portrays headteacher Steve and student Shy as male characters, consistent with their depictions in the source novella, with no instances of gender swaps for established roles.

Steve adapts Max Porter's novella Shy, in which the protagonist Shy and headteacher Steve lack specified racial identities. Portraying Shy with a Black actor and Steve with a white actor introduces no mismatch with any canonical depictions.