Adapted from Valérie Zenatti's 2006 novel, "Ultimatum" (original title: "En retard pour la guerre"). Born in France in 1970, Zenatti spent her entire teenage years in Israel, an experience that marked her deeply. Zenatti and director Alain Tasma worked together on the script even before the novel was published.
The film's original title was "La Loi du plus fort" ("The Law of the Strongest").
The role of Nathanaël was written for Gaspard Ulliel. Director Alain Tasma knew Ulliel for having met him several times during casting sessions, but according to the filmmaker, each time Ulliel was either too young or too old for the role. "Here, the character was written for him. I liked the idea of a complex character, closed, tough, and... in love. He is so bad about himself that he becomes destructive. Gaspard had the talent to make such a character believable."
At the writing stage, the role of Luisa was not of Italian origin. Director Alain Tasma said he couldn't find an actress in France for this role who touched him as Jasmine Trinca did. Or, rather, none of them made possible in his eyes her relationship with Nathanaël, the fact that she stays with a man who doesn't always treat her very well, but he said that Jasmine has this sweetness, this somewhat naive "purity", which justifies it.