Director Richard Bracewell's list of films he wished to emulate with this one included The Usual Suspects (1995), Shallow Grave (1994) and The Lives of Others (2006).
Most of the sets were built not in a film studio (for budgetary reasons) but in a disused grain warehouse in the seaside town of Great Yarmouth. As it was filmed in December and January, the cast and crew were freezing for most of the shoot.