Inspired by the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women across the globe.
Sophie Godin's original vision for the film was much darker and leaned heavier into deconstructing vampire folklore. Her original plot treatment dealt with a young woman being slowly and gradually corrupted by Dracula, reimagined as a feminine wraith. Christopher Darton chose to take the script in his own direction, attempting to meld Godin's desire for a modern violent Dracula film with indigenous commentary and more overt creature feature elements. The sole elements that remained were the presence of Dracula and Renfield, who would both be deleted from the final cut with only a few shots of them being used in a nightmare sequence as both were completely phased out when Darton began to reshoot the film.
Originally conceived as a modern adaptation of Dracula. The shooting draft of the script focused on a female vampire draining the life out of a small indigenous community to revitalize herself. After 12 days of principal photography, director Sophie Godin was let go and writer/producer Christopher Darton took the reigns, reconfiguring it into a more straight forward creature feature.
The role of Jack Martel was originally written to be a man with the idea being that it would be a suitable role for a "name actor" to fill in for a day. Stephen McHattie was Godin's first choice, but quickly scrapped when it became apparent there would be no room for union talent. Darton and Godin mutually agreed the role should be changed to a woman and Debbie Rochon was cast in the role. Unfortunately, Rochon had to cancel a few days prior due to a family emergency. Toronto character actor Sayla de Goede was soon cast in her place.
