Based on the historical mutiny on the HMS Bounty, which took place in 1789, exactly 1000 years before the setting of this film.
Visually, the film was inspired by the works of Irish illustrator and stained-glass artist Harry Clarke.
The plot draws heavily from the three sea tales of Edgar Allan Poe, "MS. Found in a Bottle" (1833), The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket (1838), and "A Descent into the Maelstrom" (1841), as well as several other poems and articles.
The names of the AI interfaces mentioned in the film - Aengus, Brigid, and Cermait - come from the children of the Irish ancestral god Dagda. That god in turn lends his name to this film's "Project Dagda", which "fathers" those very interfaces.
6' 2" actor Oliver Bestul dropped 15 pounds during the project's two months of filming - from 182 lbs to 168 lbs - emulating the weight loss of starving Will Bligh.