When Dr. Redfield (Paul Statman) pulls Ram (Sid Veda) aside to be sure he will cooperate, Ram's co-worker Medina (ShaiFali) asks what he wanted. Ram responds, "Directions to NAMBLA." Sid and ShaiFali improvised the exchange and it such an unexpected dig on the film's antagonist, the director decided to keep it in the film.
References to song lyrics are sprinkled throughout the film's dialogue. Some include "Karma Police" by Radiohead, "Here Comes he Night" by Arcade Fire and "Woodstock" by Joni Mitchell.
The director stated, "If critics made a effort to experience the film in a theater - who knows - they might have described it as a Dostoyevskian story of a tormented soul, presented in the stylized manner of a medieval illumination. But snarkiness prevailed based on the limited dynamic range of their laptops. Either way, shallow critiques suck."
The scene where Jack Sutree scatters his dog's ashes is near the same San Pedro, Los Angeles, California location where The Dude and Walter scatter Donny's ashes in Il grande Lebowski (1998).