Guillaume Musso, the author of the source novel, has declared he liked the film, and praised it for its "poetic, mysterious and dramatic atmosphere", its "constant tension" and its "never-slowing pace".
To find the deep meaning of his film, director/co-writer Gilles Bourdos was inspired by a quote from former French President François Mitterrand, which translates to "Beauty is in the moment, which is something we always find out too late".
Evangeline Lilly's first feature film lead role (though The Hurt Locker (2008) premiered before this film, Afterwards was actually shot right before).
Romain Duris' first English-speaking role. The actor relished the experience and felt that when he was in sync with his character his English was good.
The script was actually not sent to John Malkovich but to his production company, with the hope that they could provide logistical assistance to the French crew. Malkovich however ended up reading the script, and was impressed.