Submission

The Blue Angel (1930) is referenced several times, with Ted Swenson even watching a scene from it at one point. Among them is their running time; both films are exactly 106 minutes. That film inspired the novel "Blue Angel" by Francine Prose, of which this film is an adaptation.

In a film festival interview, Addison Timlin was asked about a scene which called for her to be fully nude: "Well, that's something that I don't do it often, and...that I felt a very specific need to do as Angela, and to this movie, and the dynamic of these relationships. I felt very, very strongly that I should...it's so incredibly uncomfortable, the way that scene plays, and I felt like that scene became so much more powerful, or Angela became so much more powerful when he was so uncomfortable with his body and was covering up and getting dressed really fast, and that she's just so relaxed...Yeah, it's an incredibly disarming thing to be that comfortable naked, so I thought it was important, and I hope it worked."

Stanley Tucci and Addison Timlin had previously worked together a decade before, on the medical drama 3 lbs. (2006). In that show they were father and daughter, while in this film they are teacher and student.

Filmed in 2015, shown in film festivals in 2017 and received a small theatrical release in 2018. After wrapping production, Addison Timlin shot Little Sister (2016) and Like Me (2017), both of which were finished and premiered in theaters before this film. A few of Ms. Timlin's films have experienced long delays between production and premiere, most notably Fallen (2016) and When I'm a Moth (2019).