In this film and Donato Carrisi's next film "Into the Labyrinth" (2019) is the repetitive use of the number 23. The significance of the number 23, known as the "23 enigma" has been popularized by various books, movies, and conspiracy theories. Donato Carrisi's number 23 is used in his films as an unlucky number associated with murder, death, and danger. In Italian history, for example, the Roman general Julius Caesar was stabbed 23 times.
The film's nomination for a David di Donatello in the Best Original Screenplay category was a source of confusion among critics and fans, as director Donato Carrisi ostensibly adapted his own novel, first published in 2015. This led Carrisi to clarify that the screenplay is technically original because it predates the book, even though the film came out later. The film's end credits, however, stated the film was based on his 2015 novel of the same name.
Director-writer Donato Carrisi has often said that "Crime is a business", as reflected here in this film which focuses on the business of crime. In one scene the detective dining at the empty hotel advises the owner to not close the hotel because "Soon people will be flocking here". Carrisi had based this scene on his own personal experience, in which he had discovered, while doing a news commentary for a newspaper's small Italian town, that the town's pizzeria was heading for bankruptcy until a criminal case in town garnered national limelight boosting the town's tourism and financial gain for the pizzeria.
It's the first movie directed by Carrisi.