The film's primary focus is the in Eastern Europe, a topic often overlooked in Romanian history.

: Shot in high-contrast black and white , the film uses extreme long shots and tableau compositions to evoke the epic grandeur of historical epics while simultaneously using irony to undercut national myths.

Aferim! is often described as a . It adopts classic Western tropes—bounties, lawmen, and rugged landscapes—but transplants them to the 1835 Wallachian countryside.