The Hours puts a significant emphasis on gender, sexuality, and identity, central to its intertwining narratives. While well-acted, at times the focus on these themes can overshadow character explorations, giving the film a slight sense of ideology over organic storytelling. However, it doesn't go out of its way to shoehorn diversity for its own sake, sticking with the era-appropriate context.

The film links traditional family roles, particularly motherhood and marriage, with stifling constraint and even despair. It questions religion and traditional gender expectations and promotes self-fulfillment in ways some non-woke viewers may find subversive. The male characters are mostly passive, unaware, or even obstacles to the female leads’ journeys.

Dissenting perspectives, especially around traditional marriage and gender, are scarcely explored sympathetically. The movie centers primarily on the perspectives of its troubled female protagonists, and alternative or conservative views are neither developed nor given much narrative weight.