The Thicket

The film presents Bill as gender-ambiguous and strongly queer-coded. Bill keeps the male-coded name Cut Throat Bill, lets others read Bill in different ways, and pushes Lula away from signs of girlhood. Bill’s bond with Lula mixes protection, control, and possible desire. This thread shapes the main villain and the rescue plot, although the movie never gives a modern identity speech.

The film gives several male characters roles as sexual threats, corrupt bosses, or violent gang members. It also shows Bill rejecting feminine behavior and taking control over men. Those choices create a mild critique of male power and old gender roles. The story does not turn that critique into a modern attack on patriarchy, Christianity, or Western institutions.

The novel presents Cut Throat Bill as a man. The film changes Bill into a role played by Juliette Lewis and makes the character gender-ambiguous. This change affects the central villain, the gang’s image, and Bill’s bond with Lula. The change is a major identity-driven adaptation choice even though the rest of the plot follows the book’s rescue story.

A small number of user posts call the film woke because a woman plays a character who was male in the novel. One Reddit comment attacks the gender change, and some Polish user reviews complain about a female gang leader and queer or diverse casting. Most wider discussion focuses on the violence, performances, and adaptation, so the anti-woke backlash appears limited.

Writer Chris Kelly has a cached score of 55/100 and is known for openly gay identity and queer work. Producer and star Peter Dinklage has a cached score of 30/100 and has spoken about disability representation. Director Elliott Lester and writer Joe R. Lansdale have low cached scores and no clear activist record. The title’s queer-coded villain makes the relevant creator context more visible, but the team is not broadly activist.