The movie is an adaption of The Wisdom Tooth, a 2015 book by Chinese novelist Lei Mi. Director Soi Cheang tried to make a movie out of it in continental China but couldn't, so he set this project aside. A few years after that, he came back to Hong Kong and set out to make a smaller-scale movie (as he was used to direct the Monkey King movies in China). He thus gave the novel to his writer Kin-Yee Au, so that he would adapt it into a movie, while relocating the action to Hong Kong.
The dirty Hong Kong look makes the city worse than it really looks, but the goal was to highlight this often overlooked part of the city, while staying true to director Soi Cheang's childhood memories.
The movie was part of several festivals and won quite a few prizes, including Best Cinematography at the 2021 Sitges Film Festival, and Best Sceenplay, Best Actress, Best Art Direction and Best Cinematography at the 2022 Hong Kong Film Awards.
The movie enjoyed surprise box office success in France. The movie attracted 51,254 viewers during its France theatrical release; the movie outgrossed X (2022) and became distributor Kinovista's highest-grossing release in France.