David Cronenberg received the screenplay from Patrick McGrath out of the blue, with a note attached saying that Ralph Fiennes was interested in playing the part of Spider. After about four pages, Cronenberg had decided that he wanted to do the film.
Samuel Beckett was one of the director's touchstones for the film. Photographs of the playwright were pinned around the sets, and Ralph Fiennes' hairstyle is even modeled after Beckett's.
Chosen by "Les Cahiers du cinéma" (France) as one of the 10 best pictures of 2002 (#08, with La città incantata (2001)).
Shot over a period of eight weeks.