Wildling offers a coming-of-age story with a female protagonist, emphasizing identity and empowerment themes. While there’s some focus on her 'otherness' over traditional skill or growth arcs, the film avoids overtly sacrificing plot for ideological statements. Still, certain character choices feel like box-checking rather than organic storytelling.

The film plays with family and morality in a way that may be seen as undermining traditional structures. The male authority figure is antagonistic, and the young woman’s journey is framed as liberation from patriarchal control. There’s a hint of subverting masculine roles, though nothing aggressively preachy.

While there’s clear sympathy for the outsider/female empowerment narrative, Wildling doesn’t go full monoculture. Traditional viewpoints are depicted unsympathetically, but there’s enough ambiguity that it doesn’t entirely flatten opposing perspectives into caricature.