The film features so much blood that, according to director Coralie Fargeat, the prop team would often run out of fake blood.
Coralie Fargeat mentioned Wild at Heart (1990), Drive (2011), Under the Skin (2013), and the films of David Cronenberg as references for the film in her pitch to potential financiers.
It has been selected to be screened in the Midnight Madness section of the 2017 Toronto International Film Festival and in the Midnight Shivers programme of the 21st Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival (PÖFF).
Of the film's early scenes that view Jen through a male gaze and show her dancing with men, Fargeat said this was done because she wanted to embrace the fascinating, polarising image of Lolita. Jen can be empty and stupid and an object of desire if she wants. It shouldn't lead to a sexual assault.