The movie is categorized as a musical, but it doesn’t have the expected musical structure since Violet only sings when she is performing for an audience. She doesn’t randomly burst into song or use music to communicate dialogue, which is what Minghella prefers when watching musicals. He told Hollywood XYZ that when making the film he was “looking for a context in which there was a reason for people to sing a lot and be motivated to sing a lot.” The fake singing competition show, Teen Spirit, provided the perfect outlet. When explaining why the film is composed entirely of covers, including Robyn’s “Dancing On My Own,” Minghella said, “I also knew I wanted the movie to have covers and not to be original songs because when I go to a concert I like it when they play the hits and not the new album.”