It uses a hybrid format, combining scholarly analysis with clips based on archived interviews, filmed with transgender actors.

[3][4] The cast includes Angelica Ross, Zackary Drucker, Jen Richards, Max Wolf Valerio, Silas Howard and Stephen Ira.

[6] In a critical review in Paste, Shayna Maci Warner wrote, "As a cinematic experience, the film feels pulled in several directions, formally incomplete and jagged.

"[4] IndieWire's review was similarly mixed, commenting negatively on the high proportion of academic content in the documentary, making it "feel more a history class than a story.

The website's consensus reads: "Framing Agnes may be frustratingly uneven as a work of cinematic storytelling, but that's often outweighed by its thoughtful expansion of established historical narrative.