Both this film and the play on which it is based were derived from letters between Vita Sackville-West and acclaimed author Virginia Woolf.
Virginia Nicholson, the great-niece of Virginia Woolf, took issue with this movie for several different reasons. They ranged from the heights of the two main actors (Elizabeth Debicki towers over Gemma Arterton, whereas in real life, Vita was the taller of the pair), to their dining habits (they would never eat in the kitchen), to the depiction of Virginia Woolf as a "mad prodigy, trembling with hypersensitivity," when she was actually pretty fun.
Actress Eva Green was originally cast as Virginia Woolf but dropped out in order to star in Dumbo (2019) instead. In May of 2017, it was announced that Andrea Riseborough would replace her. Three months later, Riseborough left the project as well and Elizabeth Debicki was cast in the Virginia Woolf role.
In real life, writer Vita Sackville-West was ten years younger than Virginia Woolf, whereas in this movie Gemma Arterton, who plays Vita, is four years older than Elizabeth Debicki. Similarly, Woolf was 43 years old when she and Vita began their relationship in 1925, and three years passed before her novel 'Orlando' was published. Debicki, however, had only just turned 27 years old when principal photography began.
The film was written by director Chanya Button and actress Eileen Atkins, who had written and appeared in the play 'Vita & Virginia' on which this movie is based. According to some reports, however, Atkins asked to have her name removed from the credits.