Producer Gary Lucchesi took inspiration for the story from a National Geographic article about a wounded soldiers who create painted masks to express how they feel.
Director Renny Harlin was already in Bulgaria (for a canceled action-fantasy film "Ninja Fury") in Sofia's Nu Boyana Film Studios when producers contacted him about Refuge (2023). A making-of footage from the last days of principal photography in May 2021 were featured in the Finnish reality series The Harlins (2022).
The cinematographer Matti Eerikäinen, first assistant camera Matti Poutanen and gaffer Kari Malmio are all from Finland.