Director Renny Harlin was already in Bulgaria (for a canceled action-fantasy film "Ninja Fury") in Sofia's Nu Boyana Film Studios when producers contacted him about Refuge (2023). A making-of footage from the last days of principal photography in May 2021 were featured in the Finnish reality series The Harlins (2022).
Producer Gary Lucchesi took inspiration for the story from a National Geographic article about a wounded soldiers who create painted masks to express how they feel.
The cinematographer Matti Eerikäinen, first assistant camera Matti Poutanen and gaffer Kari Malmio are all from Finland.