Prior to filming, Ben Mendelsohn and Luke Ford made a conscious decision not to speak to each other as actors to help with their portrayal of two antagonistic brothers.
This was the major film debut for both male lead James Frecheville and his on-screen girl friend played by Laura Wheelwright.
David Michôd explained that among the unplanned, unscripted elements he felt compelled to add to the film's opening moments for clarity, after shooting was complete, were the stills montage of bank robberies and the voiceover by protagonist Josh/J.
Still a high school student, James Frecheville plays a character the same age as himself, though he was much bigger and more adult-looking than the character originally imagined by writer/director 'David Michôd. But Michôd very quickly realized that Frecheville's alpha-male look brought an extra credibility as well as tension to the drama.
When David Michôd was writing the part of Detective Nathan Leckie - who he envisioned as being slightly anachronistic, an old-fashioned cop in a modern world - he had the idea of Leckie wearing a mustache. When he spoke to Guy Pearce about the part, he was quite surprised when Pearce suggested that the character should sport a mustache.