The movie was based on a dream one of the directors had involving a young boy sitting in a run down mid-western hotel bathroom analyzing a futuristic weapon. This scene was later incorporated into the film.
Jack Reynor was chosen to play the brother because the filmmakers felt his mannerisms and voice reminded them of Bill Paxton, an actor the directors had wanted to work with but never had the chance to due to his unfortunate death in 2017.
The house the main characters live in is the same house used by the main characters from Four Brothers (2005).
It was a box office bomb, grossing just $9 million on a $30 million budget.
The movie is obvious homage to James Cameron films. The fictional county where Jimmy and Eli are held at the police station is Sulaco County, a reference to the USS Sulaco from Aliens (1986).