Petzold and co-writer Harun Farocki reportedly took inspiration from the life of Wolfgang Grams, a former member of the Red Army Faction.

Much of the plot is concerned with the family being on the run as a result of political actions from two decades prior, and how German society has changed in the intervening period.

In one scene, a character digs up a buried cache of outdated Deutsche Marks, no longer legal tender following the fall of the Berlin Wall, and he dismisses them as a "history lesson".

The lack of response from the class, along with Jeanne's disinterest in her parents' cause, has been read as a comment on German culture's disengagement with politics.

"[8] Andreas Kern of Screen Daily wrote that Petzold's "subtle and quietly approach hits home in a no nonsense way by dissecting the lives of his protagonists.