While the novel and the film are commonly ignored by active Jehovah's Witnesses, those who have left the Church have praised both for the accuracy in the depiction of the religion and the Church as an organization.
The film was partially shot at City Lights Bookstore in San Francisco. This was the same bookstore where writer Tony DuShane spent hours challenging his belief system and finding relief in literature much as Gabe does in the film. It also hosted the release party for the novel upon its 2010 release.
Director Eric Stoltz has said he was given the book by a friend. He loved it and was moved and wondered how true it was. After meeting with the author Tony DuShane , he was determined to film it and to keep DuShane involved every step of the way including encouraging him to write the screenplay and to be on set for nearly ever scene.
Writer Tony DuShane was on set for nearly every scene, however he could not stay on set the day Sasha Feldman filmed the big interrogation scene because he liked the actor too much and couldn't bear to see the fictionalized version of his younger self go through one of the most painful experiences from his own life.
Per writer and former Jehovah's Witness Tony DuShane, the book and the movie both rise to the level of contraband that could get an active Jehovah's Witness disfellowshipped.